Oasis fans are taking to social media to complain of their pre-booked hotel rooms being cancelled due to a supposed “technical error”.
In case you’ve been living under a rock and somehow missed it, arguably Manchester‘s most famous band confirmed that, against all odds after decades of feuding, they would be putting their grudges to one side and reuniting for a massive comeback tour next year – playing a run of shows in all four UK capital cities and Dublin too.
Oh, and of course, how could we forget? They’re also playing four major gigs at Heaton Park in July 2025 too, returning to their hometown to show us what we’ve been missing.
Not only is the sheer fact that Oasis are actually reuniting make it a hot ticket, but the tour is also to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s debut studio album, Definitely Maybe, so you can see why fans will be travelling from and wide to witness and be a part of a moment in history.
And those travelling fans, despite whether or not they actually manage to get tickets this Saturday morning (31 August) at 9am, are keen to make sure their accommodation is secured ahead of time just in case, and so, have been booking rooms at several of Manchester city centre‘s many hotels in advance so they don’t miss out.
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Sounds like the perfect plan, right? A ‘Masterplan’, if you will… the only thing is, however, many of these fans have apparently been having their bookings cancelled due to a so-called “technical error”, and then are claiming to have seen the same rooms re-advertised at hiked prices on the same dates.
Some fans have even been contacting Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Advisor, Sacha Lord, about the issue with one hotel chain in particular, Maldron Hotels – which has two hotels in Manchester city centre, one near Oxford Road and one near Manchester Cathedral – asking him to address and look into the issue.
I’m being contacted by several people who booked your hotel for the Oasis concert, to say their rooms have just been cancelled and are now back up for three times the price.
I’m sure this is a “computer error”… easy to correct.
“Hey @MaldronHotels. I’m being contacted by several people who booked your hotel for the Oasis concert, to say their rooms have just been cancelled and are now back up for three times the price,” Mr Lord wrote.
“I’m sure this is a “computer error”… easy to correct. Do the right thing.”
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As well as those who contacted Mr Lord separately, dozens of fans have also been reacting and sharing their own personal accounts of the same thing happening to them, and many have also been sharing screenshots of the cancellation emails they have received from Maldron Hotels.
The cancellation email reads: “We are writing to inform you of an issue with your booking… Due to a technical error, you have received a confirmation for a booking that was not successfully made. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate your booking at this time. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
“Our system will send a cancellation request, which we ask you to accept promptly. Please rest assured that no charges will be applied to your payment card.”
At the time of writing, Maldron Hotels does not appear to have responded to Mr Lord’s X statement, or the complaints from fans, either publicly or privately.
The Manc has also contacted Dalata Hotel Group, owner of Maldron Hotels, for a comment.
Featured Image – Maldron Hotels
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‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people
Emily Sergeant
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Hundreds of homeless people in Manchester have now been helped “get back on their feet” thanks to a successful pilot housing scheme.
Greater Manchester’s ‘Housing First’ pilot scheme was rolled out in 2019.
The scheme is all about recognising that “a good home has to be the first step to a good life”, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and since it was first introduced, it has primarily been helping people with chronic and long-standing experiences of homelessness into homes of their own, without preconditions.
Ongoing personalised wraparound support to manage issues, ranging from mental health problems to substance misuse, is also a key part of what the scheme’s all about.
Since 2019, the scheme then has helped a total of 413 people find “good, safe homes”, GMCA has revealed.
Around 75% of those housed have also sustained their tenancies too, with some even going on to form part of Housing First’s co-production panel – sharing their experiences, and making sure that the service continues to meet people’s needs.
Giving everyone a good, safe home is one of the best investments this country can make.
That’s why we want to take the lessons of our @GMHousingFirst pilot & follow @FinlandInUK by adopting it as our philosophy in Greater Manchester.
Because of the clear success of the pilot in our region, Greater Manchester and Mayor Andy Burnham are now calling on the Government to take the lessons learned from the scheme and embed them into a new approach to tackle the housing crisis nationwide.
Andy Burnham says he believes that giving everyone a good, safe home would be “one of the best investments the country could make”, as it would “take pressure off” other public services and public finances, and declared that our region is ready to follow in Finland’s footsteps by becoming the first UK city-region to adopt the ‘Housing First’ philosophy permenantly.
“The evidence is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal,” Mr Burnham said.
A ‘life-changing’ scheme has helped house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Housing First has shown that if you give people an unconditional right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed, so instead of winding it down, we should be scaling it up and turning it into a national mission.
“We’re starting that here in Greater Manchester.
“We’re bringing in new protections for renters, tackling bad landlords, and with the right powers and funding, we can deliver 75,000 new homes in this parliament.
“Our new Housing First Unit will drive this work forward, bringing together partners across our city-region with a clear goal – a healthy home for everyone in Greater Manchester by 2038.”
Featured Image – Flickr
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Bolton nurse whose 10-week-old baby died after being left home alone jailed
Emily Sergeant
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A nurse whose 10-week-old baby died after being left home alone for more than eight hours has been jailed.
Ruth Auta appeared at Bolton Crown Court last week (Tuesday 10 September), where the court heard that she left her nurses’ accommodation shortly after 6:30am on 20 December 2022 to carry out her shift at Royal Bolton Hospital – leaving behind her son, Joshua Akerele, in the process.
The 28-year-old returned more than eight hours later, and then, at 3:24pm, called for an ambulance reporting that her son “was not breathing”.
Despite attempts by paramedics to resuscitate him, Joshua sadly could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 4:40pm, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed.
Experts could not confirm the cause of Joshua’s death, and say he was “a healthy baby in all respects”.
It’s thought that he may have overheated due to the layers of clothing and bedding he was wrapped in, but other potential causes of death “could not be ruled out”.
Nurse, Ruth Auta, 28, left her 10-week-old baby, Joshua, home alone for over 8 hours while she worked her shift at Royal Bolton Hospital in December 2022.
Auta initially told the police that she had collected Joshua from a childminder after she had finished work, and then took him back home, fed him, placed him on her bed and fell asleep next to him, before claiming that it was when she woke up she found him unresponsive, however, police seized CCTV footage showing Auta leaving her flat at 6:47am without her baby and returning home alone at 3:13pm.
Messages to the childminder asking her to tell the police she had looked after Joshua that day were also found on on Auta’s phone, but the childminder told officers she had not seen Joshua for a few days.
In her police interview, Auta gave no comment to the questions asked. She was released on bail whilst a full police investigation was carried out.
Despite the fact Auta gave no comment to the questions asked in her police interview, she was charged with cruelty to a child and pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court on 24 May 2024, with case adjourned to 21 June 2024 for sentence, and finally sentenced to three years in prison at Bolton Crown Court last week.
Sara added “Ruth Auta has failed to show remorse throughout the case; she misled police about her childcare arrangements and then tried to evade justice by attempting to flee the country.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who been affected by Joshua’s death.”
Speaking following the sentencing last week, Sara Davie, who is the District Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Whilst she went to work to provide care for other people, Ruth Auta left the very person who needed her care the most home alone.
“As a nurse she should have known the dangers of leaving her baby unattended. As she begins her sentence, she must now live with the consequences of the terrible decision she made that day.
“Auta has failed to show remorse throughout the case, she misled police about her childcare arrangements, and then tried to evade justice by attempting to flee the country.
Emily Sergeant -
28th August 2024 
