Tesco is to close all of its Express stores early this Sunday so staff can watch England in the final of the Euros.
After Gareth Southgate‘s Three Lions squad successfully secured their place in the final of European football‘s flagship tournament last night, the supermarketretailer was quick to announce its intentions of shutting up shop early especially for the highly-anticipated sporting event in just a couple of days time.
England are to face Spain in the final of UEFA Euro 2024 this Sunday night (14 July), following a 2-1 win over the Netherlands in last night’s semi final.
A penalty scored by captain Harry Kane in the first half, and a dramatic winning goal by Aston Villa’s star striker, Ollie Watkins, in the 89th minute was what lead England to the grand final in emphatic style.
A moment you are going to see again and again and again.
It was merely minutes after Watkins found the back of the net, and the on-pitch, in-stadium, and UK-wide celebrations had died down, that Tesco hopped straight onto social media to let shoppers know that its Express stores throughout England would be operating on reduced hours and closing their doors earlier than normal on Sunday.
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The supermarket retailer wasted no time at all following Ollie Watkins’ 89th-minute winner to hop onto social media and announce its reduced opening hours this Sunday. Read Tesco’s statement in full here
Wasting no time at all in sharing its intentions, Tesco wrote in a statement shared to Instagram: “It’s time. Time for another massive final. That’s why we’re giving our incredible colleagues the time they deserve to enjoy it by closing every Express store across England at 7:30pm on Sunday.
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“It’s the least we can do after all their hard work. And come kick-off, England deserve every little bit of support.”
Tesco operates more than 1,800 Express stores across England, and these smaller convenience stores generally operate with closing hours of 10pm or 11pm – but this Sunday, with the Euros final set to kick off at 8pm, they will shut up shop at the earlier time of 7:30pm to allow employees to head home and cheer on the lads.
Stores in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, however, will continue to remain open in line with their usual hours.
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Tesco is closing all its Express stores early this Sunday so staff can watch England in the Euros final / Credit: England / The FA (via X)
All staff in England stores will are to still receive their normal pay despite the reduced hours, Tesco has confirmed, and those employees who do not want to watch the football will also be paid as normal too.
As the final falls on a Sunday, the retailer’s larger stores in England will already be closed by the time the match kicks off, and Tesco has reassured shoppers that all stores nationwide will reopen as normal on Monday morning (15 July) – with the majority open from 6am or 7am.
All online orders which have already been placed for Sunday evening willbe honoured and delivered as normal, Tesco has also confirmed.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Greater Manchester’s Christmas crime rate is one of the highest in the UK, according to study
Emily Sergeant
New research has revealed the UK regions that should expect to see a spike in crime over the festive season this year… and it’s pretty grim reading for Mancs.
For several years running now, our region has unfortunately found itself near the top of the list when it comes to seeing the highest rates of crime over the Christmas holidays, and according to a recent study conducted by ADT, 2024 is unfortunately no different.
With what’s supposed to be ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ only a few days away now, home security experts have decided to analyse crime rates from December 2020-2022, and have highlighted the percentage difference in crime during the festive period in a bid to reveal where ‘Christmas crime’ is most prevalent.
Cleveland Police still has the highest reported crime rate in 2024, according to the study, with approximately 147.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 population, and more than 5,000 police reports of burglaries in early 2024 – with ONS data revealing 79% of which were residential burglaries.
West Yorkshire Police also stays in second place, with crimes in the county having risen by 20% in 2024, going from a crime rate of 111.61 in December 2021, to 133.8 crimes per 1,000 population by March 2024.
And then, we have Greater Manchester.
Once again, Greater Manchester Police ranks third for the areas with the highest crime rates in England and Wales, with 129.7 crimes per 1,000 population.
ADT’s research this year found that theft offences accounted for almost a third of all crimes committed in our region by March 2024, while residential burglaries and shoplifting had over 16,000 reported accounts, respectively.
Top 10 Christmas crime ‘hotspots’ in the UK for 2024
Rank
Police force area
Crime rate per 1,000 population
1
Cleveland Police
147.7
2
West Yorkshire Police
133.8
3
Greater Manchester Police
129.7
4
West Midlands Police
125.9
5
Merseyside Police
119.0
6
South Yorkshire Police
116.7
7
Humberside Police
108.1
8
Durham Police
101.8
9
Gwent Police
101.8
10
Metropolitan Police
100.2
Home security expert Michele Bennett, who is ADT UK’s General Manager, has shared some tips on how best to deter uninvited guests from your home during the Christmas period, and says it’s “important to remain vigilant” at this time of year by enhancing your home security.
“This will ensure you and your loved ones have a safe and enjoyable holiday experience,” she explains.
“Several proactive measures can be taken to deter intruders throughout the holidays, including installing visible security measures such as smart alarm systems or burglar alarms, with visible cameras and alarms display signs that indicate your home is highly protected.
“Also, secure your doors, windows, and other potential entry points with strong locks and deadbolts… and indoor and outdoor lighting is a good option to maintain a lived-in appearance by using smart plugs connected to lights, motion-sensing cameras, and video doorbells in and around entrances and other key areas of your home to make it less attractive to burglars.”
“The combination of these measures can drastically improve your home’s security,” Michelle concluded.
“As the appearance of an active and protected home is crucial to deterring potential intruders during Christmas and throughout the year.”
Featured Image – ADT
News
Christmas bin collection dates 2024 for every Greater Manchester borough
Thomas Melia
IT’S CHRISTMAAAS! Well, nearly, and among the endless lists of tasks we have to get through this festive period, bins can be one we completely forget about, that’s why we’re here to save the day.
With 10 boroughs to get through, let’s cut to the chase and find out those utmost important dates for when you need to put your bins out over the holiday period.
Whether you’re busy wrapping presents or you’re a self-proclaimed ‘Christmas Dad’ waiting to gather up all those paper scraps, here are all the bin collection dates you need to be aware of across Greater Manchester.
Manchester Central
🗓️ Some important dates for your advent calendar… 🎅
Anyone living in Manchester city centre will be glad to know there are only a handful of changes with a few bin dates remaining the same.
There are no changes to collections on Monday 23 December and 30 December, Tuesday 24 December and Tuesday 31 December.
Later in the week, Wednesday collections will move to Friday 27 December and Thursday 2 January, with Thursday collections moving to Saturday 28 December and Friday 3 January.
Friday collections will be moving to the weekend falling on two dates, Sunday 29 December and Saturday 4 January respectively.
Bolton
The changes in Bolton are quite simple, dates are very close by to the usual bin collecting service, giving you a Christmas that hopefully runs smoothly.
Both Monday 23 December and Tuesday 24 December dates remain the same with no changes whatsoever.
Wednesday 23 December sees burgundy bins collected two days earlier on Monday 23 December, grey bins pushed back to Friday 27 December and beige bins on Tuesday 31 December.
On Thursday 26 December, burgundy bins will be collected on Tuesday, 24 December, grey bins on Monday 30 December and beige bins moving to Tuesday 31 December.
Bury
In terms of Bury, most of the bins days are very easy to remember, especially since they’re all either a day later or the day before.
Collections due on Tuesday 24 December have been rescheduled to Monday 23 December with services on Wednesday 25 December taking place on Tuesday 24 December.
Any bin dates due after Wednesday 25 December are planned for one day later than usual, except for collections due on Tuesday 31 January and beyond which remain the same.
Rochdale
Anyone in Rochdale may have to be eager eyed as this Greater Manchester borough’s schedule is a little trickier as the dates aren’t falling the day before or after.
Services due on Wednesday 25 December have been altered to Saturday 28 December.
The following collection on Thursday 26 December is moving to Monday 30 December.
Then the Wednesday 1 January pick up will be happening on Saturday 4 January.
With it being the festive season, those pesky blue bins can never quite fit everything in, you can leave out a small amount of flat packed cardboard boxes as long as they’re dry.
Oldham
For Oldham residents, the bin collection dates and recycling rounds have been announced too giving everyone a chance to prepare for any unusual swaps.
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Bins due on Wednesday 25 December will be collected three days later on Saturday 28 December,which also includes green bins and food caddies.
Collections scheduled for Thursday 26 December will take place five days earlier on Saturday 21 December but green bins and food caddies won’t be emptied.
Collections on Wednesday 1 January will be on Saturday 4 January minus green bins and food caddies which will be collected as normal on Wednesday 8 January.
Real Christmas trees can be chopped up and recycled in green bins minus the base with Arkwright Street Household Waste and Recycling accepting trees and Christmas rubbish too.
Stockport
For Stockport, information surrounding bins and collections is quite limited with residents having to enter their own postcode to find out anything necessary.
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There will be no collections on Wednesday 25 December, Thursday 26 December or Wednesday 1 January.
Information differs depending on location so you can access recycling and collection details HERE.
Tameside
Tameside bin crews will be working as hard as ever over Christmas and New Year but some households will see changes to their collections.
Now onto Tameside where one bin in particular is missing out on all the fun, finding its collections delayed by just over a week.
Brown-bin collections will cease across the borough on Wednesday 25 December and restart on Wednesday 8 January.
On Wednesday 25 December, the green bin will be collected on Friday 27 December with black and blue bins collected on Tuesday, 31 December.
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This Thursday, 26 December sees a green bin collection on Monday 30 December while black and blue bin collection on Thursday 2 January.
From Friday 27 December to Tuesday 31 December services will run as normal with disruption on Wednesday 1 January, except for brown bins.
This year on Wednesday 1 January if you are due a green bin collection, it will be collected on Friday 3 January and both black and blue bins collected on Monday 6 January.
Then from Thursday 2 January to Tuesday 7 January all bin collections will stay the same except for brown bins which are being collected the following day, Wednesday 8 January.
Real Christmas trees can be recycled on behalf of Willow Wood Hospice, Ashton, between 6 and 10 January. Register for collection HERE. Alternatively, chop it up and put it in your brown bin.
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Trafford
It’s Trafford’s turn next and you’ll be happy to know that four dates see no changes to your usual bin collection dates.
On Monday 23 December and Tuesday 24 December there will be no change to any of the original bin services.
Wednesday 25 December and Thursday 26 December on the other hand will both get collected on Friday 27 December.
Same again with Monday 30 Decemebr and Tuesday 31 December, there is no scheduled changes for the bin collection day.
In terms of 1-3 January, all services will be the day after (1 Jan moves to 2 Jan etc.).
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Salford
Next up in Salford, there are very minimal changes to your usual bin collection dates with only a few minor replacements.
Only three collection dates will be affected with every other service remaining the same as it was prior to the Christmas period.
The collection for Wednesday 25, December will take place on Saturday, 21 December; Thursday, 26 December now on Saturday 28 December and Wednesday 1 January swapping to Saturday 4 January.
Wigan
Tuesday 24 December is moved to Monday 23 December while Wednesday 25 December is shifted to a new date of Tuesday 24 December, both one day prior.
Any collections on Thursday 26 December are changing to Friday 27 December while the Friday 27 December is moving to Saturday 28 December, one day later.
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From Wednesday 1 January to Friday 3 January every collection changes to a day later, after this, normal service starts again.
An additional point to take note of is that green bin collections will be suspended from 29 December until 10 January. These services resume on the week starting 13 January or 20 January, depending where you live.
To check bin collection days over the festive period, residents can refer to their bin collection calendar which does feature key Christmas dates like the rest of Greater Manchester or visit HERE.
That should be all your bin collection dates for Greater Manchester this Christmas. (Credit: Wikicommons)
Emily Sergeant -
11th July 2024 
