A thief labelled the “Grinch” has been caught by doorbell cameras on numerous occasions stealing Christmas decorations from homes in Oldham.
Residents of Lancaster Gardens – a modern new-build housing estate in Failsworth – have taken to social media and community platforms in recent days to report the theft of their festive decorations over night, and have often caught thieves in the act thanks to Ring Doorbell video technology.
It comes after many of the residents have joined communities up and down the country in putting their Christmas decorations up a little earlier this year to lift spirts after what has been a turbulent year.
But it has sadly seen the estate become a target for thieves.
Instances of Christmas wreaths hanging from front doors being stolen, festive lights being cut and disconnected, and any free-standing decorations – such as ‘Santa Stop Here’ signs – being taken have all been reported.
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As seen on doorbell camera footage, each separate incident is reported to be occurring at around 2am.
Although unconfirmed at this point, it is believed that the thieves in question – who have been caught on video in the act on at least three separate occasions – are the same people committing the offence in each instance.
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However their identities have not been publicly revealed.
There also does not appear to be a direct link in the way each of thefts are carried out, as the thieves are captured entering onto the estate from multiple directions, and are said to be targeting different properties across the estate.
Some residents have been “sickened” by the incidents, as their children have sadly woken up to find their Christmas decorations stolen.
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One resident who has chosen to speak out on the matter, Grace Brogan – who lives with her partner and five-year-old daughter on Garden Cresent – has been a target of the recent thefts, having her Christmas wreath stolen from her front door earlier this week and capturing the act on camera.
Before taking the wreath, Grace revealed that a man had initially come to the door around 12.20am to steal a ‘Santa stop here’ sign from the front garden, but struggled to pull it out of the ground as it was pinned down.
“He came back [later], took our wreath on the door and ran off” she said.
She continued: “This year has been different, we thought we would put [Christmas decorations] up early [as] I have got a little girl [and] I was trying to cheer her up,
“I can’t for the life of me understand why [they would steal the decoration],
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“My partner heard a bang… [and] looked outside and didn’t see anything.”
“It’s just so random, that’s why I said he is like the Grinch. It puts us off putting something else there. We will make sure we cable tie things in future.
“We have a child in this house, what next? You always think of the worst, what could it have been?”
After the theft occurred, Grace admitted she tried calling 101 to report it to the police as she wanted a log of the incident in case something similar happened in future, but she was unable to get through.
Greater Manchester Police is yet to make a formal statement in connection to the series of thefts.
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Mancunian has now become the UK’s ‘most desired’ accent
Emily Sergeant
Mancunian has now taken the crown as the ‘most desired’ accent in the UK, according to a new analysis.
You may remember that in recent years, the findings from two separate shocking surveys revealed that the Manchester accent is considered to be one of the ‘least respected’ nationwide, especially within the corporate world of work, and that northerners with strong accents are considered ‘less intelligent’ than their southern counterparts.
But now it seems like the tides have shifted slightly.
That’s because a new analysis by The Hearing Care Partnership revealing which regional voices are ‘turning heads’ in 2025 has seen Manchester take the top spot.
Last year in the hearing care company’s study, Essex topped the list as the UK’s most desired accent, but in 2025, Manchester came up to first place with a huge 127% increase in searches, pushing Essex down to the second spot.
Mancunian has now become the UK’s ‘most desired’ accent / Credit: Simon Emmett
The company claims the long-awaited Oasis reunion could be the ‘driving force’ behind the nation’s new curiosity towards Manchester’s tone.
“It’s interesting to see how the Manchester accent has become popular all of a sudden,” Ashish Shah, who is an audiologist at The Hearing Care Partnership, commented on the findings.
“Cultural events can really change how people feel about certain accents, and Manchester’s up-and-coming vibrant music scene, lively nightlife, and sports achievements might explain why so many people are interested in it now.
“Last year, Manchester wasn’t even in the top five, so jumping to number one with a 127% increase is really impressive.”
Top 10 ‘most desired’ UK accents
Manchester
Essex
Welsh
Yorkshire
Geordie
Cockney
Scouse
Birmingham
Scottish
Irish
Elsewhere on the list, it appears that regional accents across the UK have seen noticeable shifts.
The Welsh accent now ranks thirdon the list with a 24% increase in searches – a surge that could be linked to the hit BBC series The Traitors, where contestant Charlotte deliberately spoke in a Welsh accent as she believed it to be one of the most trustworthy.
Yorkshire’s unique sound has also seen an 18% boost this year, which is a major shift from 2024 when it was one of the least desirable, and the Geordie accent has also remained a favourite with a 17% increase in interest.
Cockney and Scouse accents have also continued to hold strong, with steady increases between 12% and 17% each.
Featured Image – Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
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One of the 2025 Oscar winners was a favourite at a recent film festival in Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s not often we get to say that Greater Manchester can lay any sort of claim to Oscars fame, but once in a while it happens and in this case, we’re only a few degrees of separation away from the latest Academy Award-winning film thanks to a recent film festival.
Being most recently hosted in Manchester once again, the 2024 edition of the UK Jewish Film Festival saw a number of shorts, student films and indie projects associated with the religion spotlighted – one of which just won not one but two bits of bronze.
Picking up not only the award for this year’s award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for the film itself but with Succession favourite and Home Alone child star, Kieran Culkin’s role winning him ‘Best Supporting Actor’, the much-celebrated A Real Pain has now won an Oscar.
But the part of all this that we’re especially happy about is that one of the first times it was seen in the UK happened right here in Manchester city centre late last year.
This year’s ‘Best Original Screenplay’ award winner at the Oscars, just a few months after screening in Manchester. Have you seen it yet?
The now Oscar-winning picture, which just so happens to be the second original feature film from Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network, Zombieland, Justice League), has been delighting audiences ever since its debut at Sundance in January 2024 and went on to premiere at several international film festivals.
However, the second time it was screened here in Britain prior to its official UK release nearly a full 12 months later (8 Jan 2025) at the UK Jewish Film Festival, was in 0161, returning for another consecutive year across multiple Greater Manchester venues.
Without giving away too much about the plot itself, the synopsis of the film reads as follows: “Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.”
Shown to us Mancs for the first time at Cineworld Didsbury on Thursday, 17 November last year, you won’t be surprised to hear it was one of the most popular picks of this festival too.
UK Jewish Film Festival is coming to Manchester! 🤩
Check out some of the amazing films that we'll be screening in Manchester.
1. A Real Pain 🚆 2. The Performance 🕺 3. British-Jewish Life On Film: Manchester ✡️ 4. Golda's War Diaries 🇮🇱
A Real Pain has been largely described as a buddy comedy and a road trip movie by lots of critics but there’s also tonnes of drama and serious subject matter that it gets stuck into.
Touching not only the obvious themes of Judaism and Zionism but also family, the Holocaust specifically and theology in general, the film has gone down as a deeply important piece of cinema for a whole community and plenty of people beyond it.
Admittedly, the Greater Manchester connection to the film might only be a slight one but given its new Oscars fame and how well-reviewed the film has been ever since we saw it at the UK Jewish Film (UJFF) Festival, we’re absolutely jumping on the bandwagon and we’re glad to keep supporting events like this.
Make sure you check out the UJFF the next time it comes to our neck of the woods. Applications to enter a film into the 2025 festival are now open.
Side note: it also led to arguably one of the best acceptance speeches in years:
Kieran Culkin’s acceptance speech for his first-ever #Oscar
“[My wife] said we can have 4 children when I win an Oscar… let’s get cracking with these kids!”
Emily Sergeant -
26th November 2020 
