Residents living in the central Ancoats area have spoken out to shed light on the ongoing acts of antisocial behaviour that they believe is ruining their neighbourhood.
Some homeowners have said that continuous loud music being played, littering and street drinking has taken over the area’s popular Cutting Room Square and it is turning one the most desirable neighbourhoods in Manchester into “the new Piccadilly Gardens”.
Antisocial behaviour in the area is reported to have significantly risen during the past few months of lockdown amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
One resident – who spoke to the Manchester Evening News but did not wish to be named – claims that groups of people from outside the area have taken advantage of the open outdoor spaces to get drunk and play loud music all hours of the day.
These claims come after images and videos surfaced on social media following May Bank Holiday weekend, which showed dozens of people congregating in Cutting Room Square – sparking concerns after there appeared to be a visible lack of social distancing – and leaving hundreds of items of litter behind them.
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Spent the day despairing of the reprobates gathering in Cutting Room Square, Ancoats all day today. 36K deaths, 261K infections, but infinitely more selfish people that live only for themselves. Only silver lining was the community + NAM restaurant coming together to clean it up. pic.twitter.com/x8UpDZyHZj
— MaximilianCarstensen (@_MaxInAMillion_) May 25, 2020
The resident said: “This year I have seen a lot of changes with the way lockdown has affected the type of people coming into Ancoats and being disrespectful. I think it started when lockdown began to ease and people could go outside, probably around late May. We noticed a lot more people being in Cutting Room Square that were perhaps not from round here.”
“It’s the drinking, noise and behaviour to people walking through the square that’s the worst,”
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“These people are still coming to the square but may not be buying from businesses who own the square, and are instead bringing their own drinks.
“People have been urinating in doorways and stairways and openly do drugs.
“I understand that I live in the city centre and it’s going to be noisy, but these people are coming in groups of more than six – which is not allowed. They are drinking and then deciding who should drive the car which is dangerous for everyone in the area not just them.”
The resident also said that his friends and neighbours have been verbally abused, and that some have received homophobic abuse, which is behaviour he has “not really seen round here before”.
He said that the behaviour has made him consider moving from the area and he is worried his flat could lose value.
The resident continued: “I work from home and even during the day there are groups of people out there drinking Budweiser at 11am in the morning. It could definitely become the new Piccadilly Gardens and it’s a shame for everyone who lives here, but particularly the businesses.”
“It’s quite scary at times – on a weekend we have gone outside the square for food and drinks because we didn’t want to be involved in that,”
“It has made me consider moving from Ancoats and that has never crossed my mind before.”
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FOR INFORMATION- There is currently a section 35 dispersal order in place in Cutting Room square, Ancoats. Police will actively be inforcing this order if members of the public are engaging in antisocial behaviour in the square. Many thanks
— Newton Heath, Clayton & Openshaw Police (GMP) (@GMPNewtonHeath) June 13, 2020
Manchester City Council say they are aware of reports of antisocial behaviour in the area, and are working with Greater Manchester Police to tackle the issue.
Councillor Nigel Murphy – Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council – said: “We are aware of reports of antisocial and criminal activity in the Cutting Room Square area and are working in partnership with Greater Manchester Police to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.
“We’re committed to ensuring that residents can enjoy using the square without being subjected to verbal abuse and antisocial street drinking. The council has a dedicated team working with partners and residents to investigate and take appropriate action. We would welcome any new information that would help us to identify the individuals responsible – for example, descriptions, vehicle details and registration plates.”
Residents are urged to report incidents of antisocial behaviour, via www.manchester.gov.uk, or to contact the Police if any criminal activity is witnessed.
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The Boots recycling scheme where you can get £5 off every shop
Thomas Melia
UK high street retailer and healthcare shop Boots has launched an innovative recycling scheme that entitles customers to £5 off their future shopping trips.
If you’re still struggling to come up with a New Year’s resolution, why not try a spot of recycling and earn some money off your next cosmetics shop while you’re at it?
Started in 2020, the Boots Recycling Scheme allows Advantage Card holders the opportunity to get money while also being more conscious about how we recycle our used health and beauty products.
Their third-party app, Recycle at Boots, uses a ‘Scan2Recycle‘ system where users can upload items from various beauty brands by taking a picture of the empty packaging before identifying its form.
This scheme takes items that can’t usually be recycled at home, such as lotion pumps, toothpaste tubes, lipstick, mascaras, travel minis, make-up palettes and more.
Once you have five items approved, head over to your nearest participating Boots store, drop off your empties and scan the QR code on the deposit box.
After you’ve followed all these steps, a voucher will appear entitling you to 500 Advantage Points when you spend £10 in-store at your nearest location, and not only do you have £5 worth of points with your name on it, you’re also an eco-warrior.
There’s even a dedicated section of the app to recycling empty medicine and vitamin blister packs, which gives customers 100 Advantage Points when they spend £5 in-store.
Brilliant.
Credit: Publicity pictures (supplied)
Items dropped into these deposit boxes are taken to MyGroup, a recycling and waste management service which works around the clock to help divert waste from landfill.
These empties will be washed and traditionally recycled into a material called MyBoard, a construction board material most similar to plywood, with lots of different uses.
Nearest Boots locations in Manchester running the Recycle at Boots scheme:
Manchester Market Street – 32 Market Street, M1 1PL
Salford Regent Park – Regents Park, M5 3TP
Manchester Didsbury – 736-740 Wilmslow Road, M20 2DW
The Trafford Centre – 10 Peel Avenue, M17 8BD
Trafford Retail Park – Neary Way, M41 7FN
If you’re up for getting money off your next Boots splurge while also helping recycle cosmetics containers and more, you can download the Recycle at Boots app and find your nearest HERE.
Manchester United issue statement after Bruno Fernandes’ social media is hacked
Danny Jones
Manchester United were forced to issue an official statement following Bruno Fernandes’ social media being hacked.
The Man United star’s digital profile was hijacked in the wake of the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend, which saw the Red Devils knocked out of the FA Cup and, it’s fair to say, quite the flurry of activity online.
As if to add insult to injury, with United‘s exit from the competition, a user then commandeered the club captain’s presence to share several fake posts.
With the official Bruno Fernandes X account being targeted following the game, the club had no choice but to respond after several controversial and/or inappropriate posts, not to mention multiple instances of general anti-ownership sentiment.
In case you didn’t see any of the since-deleted posts, besides one understandably troublesome comment which read, “let’s get rid of INEOS“, others were even more provocative/inflammatory.
The comments ranged from everything between messages @ing darts player and United fan Luke Littler to influencers like KSI and Jake Paul.
Offensive language was also present in many of them.
As for the Portuguese midfielder, he also quickly clarified that he obviously had no involvement in the activity; meanwhile, despite plenty of players coming out to apologise for the defeat on Sunday night, the skipper is yet to address the disappointment directly.
The loss to Brighton confirmed that Manchester United will be playing just 40 games for the rest of the campaign – the fewest since the 1914/15 season (i.e. at the outset of the First World War) – which serves as yet another unwanted record for the club of late.
You can see the highlights for the game down below.
It is also likely to have been caretaker manager Darren Fletcher’s final game in charge of the Reds, with an interim replacement set to be appointed imminently following Ruben Amorim’s shock sacking earlier this month.
His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, also looked like the frontrunner at one point – and could still be involved in a backroom setup – but The Athletic now has it that Carrick could be is odds-on favourite to be announced before the Manchester derby.
Nevertheless, plenty of supporters still feel the problems remain deeply rooted throughout the club and that a change of personnel among the coaching staff still may not be enough…
The Manc -
7th September 2020 
