A police investigation has been launched following the death of a 17-year-old girl who was reported missing in Tameside.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that enquiries led them to an address on Whalley Close, in Ashton-under-Lyne, at around 9am on Sunday 21 September, but despite the best efforts of all emergency service workers involved, the girl sadly died at the scene.
Formal identification has not yet taken place, but police do believe it is 17-year-old Catherine, who was reported missing on Saturday.
Her next of kin has been informed, and officers are supporting them.
At this time, investigating officers say that her cause of death remains ‘unclear’, but detectives are ‘keeping an open mind’.
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A 55-year-old man has also been arrested on suspicion of murder, and he remains in police custody for questioning.
#ARREST | An investigation has been launched following the death of a 17-year-old girl in Ashton-under-Lyne who was reported as a missing person.
A 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are urging anyone with information, no matter how small it might seem, to get in touch and help with enquiries.
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“Firstly, our thoughts are with the family and friends of the young person who has tragically lost their life, who we sadly believe was missing Catherine,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Anna Barker.
“Although we have a man in custody, our investigation team is keeping an open mind and are following several lines of enquiry. We are trying to get all the answers we can for the family of this young person who is at the forefront of the investigation team’s mind.
“A scene will remain in place while officers conduct their investigation, and if you have any concerns, please speak to an officer who will listen to you.”
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Appeals have now been issued for anyone who may have been in the Whalley Close area on the Saturday and early hours of Sunday morning.
“Every piece of information, no matter how small it might seem, helps us build a clearer picture in this investigation,” DCI Barker added.
“Anyone who has any information, CCTV, mobile phone or Ring doorbell footage is urged to contact police on 0161 856 9307, quoting the log number 802 of 21/09/2025, or online via gmp.police.uk.”
Information can also be shared anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.
Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.
During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.
But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.
If you travel with a TfGM-issued concessionary travel pass, from 1 November you’ll be able to use it on #BeeNetwork buses before 9.30am as part of a second month-long trial.
As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.
TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.
“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.
“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”
Emily Sergeant -
23rd September 2025 
