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
— GMP – Newton Heath (@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.
News
Yorkshire Tea is Manchester’s ‘favourite’ brand of teabags, according to new data
Danny Jones
The Great British debate of which teabag is best is one that will rage on for millennia, that’s just the way it is, but according to new data, it sounds like we might at least have an answer to which brand makes for Manchester’s favourite brew.
It won’t be a surprise to many of you and we can certainly confirm it on our end but the one and only Yorkshire Tea looks to have taken the cuppa crown when it comes not only to Manchester’s preferred teabag but seemingly the best-loved in Britain as a whole.
This is according to numbers pulled by local firm, TonerGiant. The Atherton-based ink and toner suppliers decided a poll around the office wasn’t enough and instead chose to turn their knowledge of the market and consumer trends into a bit of online research.
At the end of the day, tea has got to be the most important of all office supplies, surely?
According to the stats, Yorkshire Tea is Manchester’s favourite brand of tea bags. (Credit: Yorkshire Tea)
Using data from trusted online source Statista, which nailed down the top 25 teabag brands in the UK, each make was then ranked in relation to its average monthly searches via Google Keyword Planner to reveal that Yorkshire Tea was clearly the top dog.
With roughly 390 searches per month in Manchester alone, compared to PG Tips as the next best (260), it seems us Mancs have to concede at least one thing to our fellow Northern county: Yorkshire makes a bloody good brew.
The Roses rivalry raged for centuries but if there’s one thing that brings us together, it’s a good cuppa.
In terms of other tea brands that came in high on the leaderboard, Pukka Tea (170), Twinings (140)and Teapigs (90) made up the rest of the top five most-searched tea brands in Greater Manchester. It’s also interesting to see how those figures looked when extrapolated nationwide. Here’s the full ranking:
Rank
Tea
Average UK monthly searches
1
Yorkshire Tea
27,100
2
PG Tips
18,100
3
Pukka Tea
14,800
4
Twinings
12,100
5
Teapigs
8,100
6
Whittards Tea
6,600
7
Tetley
4,400
8
Clipper Tea
4,400
9
Lipton Tea
3,600
10
Barrys Tea
3,600
11
Thompsons Tea
1,300
12
Typhoo
1,300
13
Taylors Tea
1,300
14
M&S Tea
1,300
15
Tesco Tea
1,000
16
Tick Tock Tea
880
17
Sainsbury’s Tea
720
18
Lyons Tea
720
19
Asda Tea
590
20
Aldi Tea
590
21
Waitrose Tea
590
22
Lidl Tea
480
23
Morrisons Tea
320
24
Bewleys Tea
90
25
Cafedirect Tea
40
Few of these on here we’ve never heard of. Taste test, anyone?
While Yorkshire Tea was found to be Manchester’s and the nation’s favourite, Belfast was the only UK city where Yorkshire Tea didn’t take the top spot. Instead, it was Irish-owned Barry’s Tea that came out as their favourite – we definitely need to hold a ‘brew-off’ between the two. The Hoot, you up for it?
As for supermarket’s own-brand offerings, out of the eight options on the list, Marks and Spencer’s teabags were found to be the most popular, closely followed by Tesco and then Sainsbury’s.
Commenting on the findings, TonerGiant’s Stuart Deavall said: “With so many office workers opting for tea to get through the day, it’s no surprise that the UK has a day dedicated to the drink.
“In light of National Tea Day on Sunday, 21 April, our new data shows that Yorkshire Tea is the nation’s favourite, with over 27,000 Brits searching every month… We can expect many Brits to be celebrating in style this Sunday, no doubt with a mug of Yorkshire tea in hand”. Speaking of, anyone fancy a brew?…
Featured Images — Yorkshire Tea/Rumman Amin (via Unsplash)
News
Manchester palaeontologist unearths bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile
Emily Sergeant
A Manchester-based palaeontologist has unearthed the bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile.
This new identification is a crucial part of a fascinating eight-year long discovery journey.
It all started when a seasoned fossil collector named Paul de la Salle found a giant jawbone on Lilstock Beach, near Bridgewater in Somerset, back in May 2016, and then father and daughter, Justin and Ruby Reynolds from Devon, found the first pieces of a second jawbone and another giant bone while searching for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor, also in Somerset, in May 2020.
And now, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester (UoM) Dr Dean Lomax, has identified the fossilised remains of the second gigantic jawbone that measures more than two metres long.
Experts have identified these bones as belonging to the jaws of a new species of enormous ichthyosaur – which is a type of prehistoric marine reptile – and astonishing estimations suggest the oceanic titan would have been more than 25-metres long.
Dr Lomax has been working together with Justin and Ruby Reynolds, along with Paul de la Salle and several family members, since the father-daughter duo first contacted them about their groundbreaking discovery in 2020.
A Manchester palaeontologist has unearthed bones of what may be the largest known marine reptile / Credit: UoM
“I was amazed by Justin and Ruby’s find,” Dr Lomax commented.
“In 2018, my team and Paul de la Salle studied and described Paul’s giant jawbone, and we had hoped that one day another would come to light.”
He explained that Justin and Ruby’s new specimen was “more complete and better preserved” than the first find, and that he “became very excited” at the chance to learn more following their discovery.
As mentioned, the Manchester-based research team, led by Dr Lomax, revealed that the jaw bones belong to a new species of giant ichthyosaur that would’ve been about the size of a blue whale, and they have called the new genus and species Ichthyotitan severnensis – which means ‘giant fish lizard of the Severn’.
The bones – which represent the very last of their kind – are around 202 million years old, and date back to the end of the Triassic Period in a time known as the Rhaetian.
During this time, the gigantic ichthyosaurs swam the seas while the dinosaurs walked on land.
The University of Manchester, where Dr Dean Lomax works as a palaeontologist / Credit: UoM
Ichthyotitan is not the world’s first giant ichthyosaur, but the discoveries by Paul, and Justin and Ruby, are said to be “unique among those known to science”, as they appear roughly 13 million years after their latest geologic relatives – including Shonisaurus sikanniensis from British Columbia in Canada, and Himalayasaurus tibetensis from Tibet in China.
Speaking on the confirmation of the bones’ identification this week, Dr Lomax said: “This research has been ongoing for almost eight years.
“It is quite remarkable to think that gigantic, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around what was the UK during the Triassic Period.
The Manc -
7th September 2020 
