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Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road to close for annual safety checks this weekend

You know the drill... expect disruption etc.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 3rd June 2025

Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road is set to close this weekend while annual safety checks are carried out, it has been confirmed.

As Manchester City Council looks to maintain and improve what is, by far, one of Manchester’s busiest and most-used roads, given the fact it is the main thoroughfare in and out of the city centre, it has been confirmed that Mancunian Way is set to close overnight this weekend for its annual inspection.

Carried out every year, the Council explains that these closures ensure that ‘vital’ safety inspections can be conducted to allow the major road to continue operating as normal.

The overnight closure will take place from 7-8 June.

From 5am on Saturday (7 June), Mancunian Way will be closed in both directions along its entire length, including all slip roads, between the Chester Road roundabout and Fairfield Street, and this will last until 7pm on Sunday (8 June), after which the road will be open to traffic again as normal.

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In the meantime while the closures are underway, the Council assures that a signed diversion route will be in place via the north and eastern ring road sections – Trinity Way and Great Ancoats Street – and a local diversion route will be signed via Bridgewater Street, Whitworth Street West, Whitworth Street, and Fairfield Street.

Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road Mancunian Way is closing for annual safety checks this weekend / Credit: Pixabay

During this period there will also be a lane closure east/westbound at the Deansgate Interchange between 6:30-9:30am, and the inbound lane of Princess Road (heading towards Manchester) between 6:30am and 11:15am.

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As is to be expected with these kinds of tasks, Councillors say they are preparing for a ‘level of disruption’ but are intending to keep it to a minimum.

“The annual inspection of the Mancunian Way is a vital job which ensures that the tens of thousands of daily users of this road can go about their journey in safety,” explained Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport.

“We do expect a level of disruption throughout this process so wherever possible we’d advise people to travel via public transport, or plan an alternate route ahead to avoid the work locations.

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“Safety will always be our number one priority and I’d like to say thank you in advance for the patience of road users during this period of works.”

Find out more information on this weekend’s Mancunian Way closures here.

Featured Image – Geograph

News

Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Harvey Bell mugshot

A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.

Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.

At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.

Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.

He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.

Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.

The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.

“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.

“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”

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She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.

“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”

Featured Image – GMP

News

IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.

The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.

The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.

IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.

IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.

Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.

IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.

Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.

The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.

“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.

“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”

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Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester. 

Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.

Featured Image – Jon Super (via IKEA)

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