Manchester’s famously known as the city that does things differently. From dancing on tables to pioneering vegetarianism, Mancunians (and Salfordians) have always been a little bit rebellious – pushing the boundaries of what’s allowed and what’s not.
It’s something that’s always been celebrated in Manchester. But now that that infamous spirit has started extending itself into the realm of car parking, the council aren’t too happy.
Pictures have emerged of the central reservation underneath the Mancunian Way filled with cars, by way of posts shared on Twitter by cycling campaigner James Stafford earlier this week.
And it seems that this rogue parking has been going on for some time now – with drivers reportedly spotted using the ‘free’ parking spaces since the end of 2020.
Shared with his followers on Monday, Stafford’s caption drily states:
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“Here is a tour of Manchester’s latest new free city-centre car park underneath the Mancunian Way.
“Be careful though, it’s a little dangerous mounting on/off, there are no parking bay or dropped curbs.
Stretching from Cambridge Street to the Princess Road roundabout, the piece of land was newly created when improvement works were carried out on the Princess Road/Medlock Street roundabout.
As such, it’s technically neither pavement nor carriageway.
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Whilst the council currently don’t have legal recourse to penalise drivers, they are keen to stress the risks associated with pulling in and out of such a busy junction – raising concerns that, due to the high volume of traffic passing across the junction, there is a strong risk of collision.
An official statement released by the council states:
“We would strongly discourage anyone from parking on the central reservation underneath the Mancunian Way. This area is intended for maintenance of the motorway. Motorists attempting to park on this piece of land run the risk of causing a collision to other road users.
“The Council is considering interim steps to prevent the use of this land for parking and in the long term, installing barriers limiting access to maintenance staff.
“There are many parking spaces in the city centre and we would encourage drivers to use them, or to use public transport to travel to Manchester where possible.”
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Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Georgina Pellant -
29th April 2021 
