A local restaurant has expressed their gratitude for their neighbours after they were the victims of another ‘heartbreaking’ burglary.
Sweet Mandarin in the Northern Quarter was broken in to in the early hours of Friday morning by two burglars, who made off with the restaurant’s till.
But the restaurant’s neighbours and customers rallied around, and found the smashed-up till in a nearby flowerbed – along with evidence that will hopefully help police to trace down the criminals behind the break-in.
The Chinese restaurant, which has been operating in the city centre for almost two decades, said that the kindness of customers and fellow business has ‘spurred them on’ through a ‘helpless’ time.
They initially shared CCTV footage of the burglary itself, which shows two men deftly removing a window and climbing inside to steal the till.
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Sweet Mandarin’s till was found in a nearby flowerbed. Credit: Instagram, @sweet.mandarin
Sweet Mandarin wrote that the pair rode up on bicycles and appealed for people to share any information they may have to their identities.
They posted: “This is not a faceless crime. We are a family business serving the local community. We have huge bills to pay as its month end. They just took the till and its heart breaking. It is time to stand up to these perpetrators. Please share names with us privately.
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“Trying to keep our heads up. We remain open today come what may! Sorry about the door!”
Since sharing the footage, hair salon RCNQ (one of Sweet Mandarin’s neighbouring businesses) tracked down the till to a patch of flowers nearby.
The restaurant updated followers to say thank you, writing: “May we just pause from this crazy day to say a massive thanks for the love and kind messages which have spurred us on.
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“Seeing some of you tonight made me forget the pain of being broken into again and again. I feel so helpless and not quite hopeless but it’s harder every time to turn on the woks when something like this happens.”
They added that police had not found any prints on the till, but that officers did find a glove and footprints elsewhere, which are being examined.
Sweet Mandarin’s post continued: “I just wanted to say thank you very much to you all for your messages. It has given me heart to continue.
“We’ve been going for 20 years even before the @nqmanchester became a thing. Perhaps we may continue another 20 years more.
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“The verse which has struck me is John 10:10-15 ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep….. ‘ wow powerful words.
“Here’s to keeping positive, silver linings and knowing the voice which leads my heart.”
Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Daisy Jackson -
30th May 2022 
