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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Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs
Danny Jones
Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.
In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.
The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.
Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.
As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.
Same, mate. Same.
Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.
He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.
Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.
Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.
As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.
That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.
Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.
Emily Sergeant -
26th November 2020 
