Cyclists have been taking to social media over to express frustration at the ongoing pavement parking problems in Manchester city centre.
It comes after a frustrated cyclist shared a video this weekend documenting himself in a “traffic jam on a pavement” at a busy part of Oxford Road near All Saints Park, Manchester Metropolitan University, and a number of fast food outlets and takeaways.
The short video appeared to show a group of cars – both attended and un-attended – parked up on a wider part of the pavement.
Now it has lead many cyclists and cycling advocates to brand the particular area “horrendous” and “ridiculous” following the release of the footage and are urging the police to employ more “regular enforcement” to manage and rectify the issue going forward.
Twitter user @HarryHamishGray, who shared the video to the platform, also called out Greater Manchester Police and asked “can we have our pavement back please?”
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He also called for bollards to be installed at the location as soon as possible.
Welcome to Manchester – we do things differently around here, traffic jams on pavements pic.twitter.com/T5vR8QgFDW
Mr Gray also stated in a follow-up tweet that: “The police are here too, no fines being issued”.
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The video has amassed hundreds of likes and retweets since posting, with many too expressing their disbelief and frustration at the footage, as well going on to create a further discussion on the plans to create wider and safer accessibility for cyclists across Greater Manchester.
Criticism was also expressed at the lack of permanent action and enforcement being taken by authorities.
The discussion comes after recent hit-back from residents across the region last week at the instalment of pop-up cycling lanes across the region.
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It also follows the announcement last month that a new £85m cycling project has been outlined – dubbed the Bee Network – which will bring 55 miles of protected routes and 140 new crossings to roads throughout Greater Manchester by the end of 2021.
Greater Manchester Police appears yet to formally issue a statement on the matter addressed in the video.
However @gmptraffic did respond on Twitter asking for confirmation of the location of the incident, and agreed that “enforcement is short term [and] it needs a long term plan” such as “bollards in place”. It also went on to reassure members of the public that it is looking to “deploy some resources where [it] can the weekend”.
@cyclinggrump Hi, I’ll be honest it never will no matter how much we do. Enforcement is short term it needs a long term plan I.e bollards in place. I’ll look to deploy some resources where I can at weekend.
The full discussion can be accessed via the Twitter thread here.
You can find more information about cycling in Greater Manchester via the TfGM website here.
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8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
The Manc -
30th November 2020 
