UK News

Man dies following incident at construction site of new Everton stadium

Work on the site has been halted.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 15th August 2023

A man has died after a fatal incident at the construction site of Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock.

The 26-year-old male was rushed to hospital with major injuries but was pronounced dead.

Everton FC has said everyone at the club is ‘heartbroken’ by the as-yet-unnamed worker’s death on the site on Monday afternoon.

Laing O’Rourke, the contractors on the huge new stadium site, confirmed that work has been suspended while an investigation takes place.

The construction company added that it was ‘shocked and saddened’ by the tragedy. Everton said in a statement released on Twitter: “Everyone at Everton Football Club is heartbroken by the news a male worker has died following an incident at the Everton Stadium site at Bramley-Moore Dock.

ADVERTISEMENT
Everton’s full statement following the death at their new stadium.

“The thoughts and condolences of everyone connected with Everton are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this unimaginably sad time.

“Stadium Contractor Laing O’Rourke has immediately launched an investigation and will work with the Police and the Health and Safety Executive to establish the full details of the incident.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Merseyside Police confirmed that reports of a 26-year-old man being injured were made at around 1pm on Monday 14 August.

The force said: “We can confirm that a man has died following an incident at Bramley Moore Dock this afternoon, Monday 14 August.

“At around 1pm it was reported that a 26-year-old man had been injured and emergency services attended the scene.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The man was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His next of kin have been informed.

“Officers remain at the scene as we continue with the early stages of the investigation alongside the Health and Safety Executive.”

Read more

Laing O’Rourke’s statement reads: “We can confirm that earlier today a member of our team, who was carrying out work for one of our sub-contractors, was seriously injured in an incident. He was taken to hospital via ambulance, where he sadly died.

“We are shocked and saddened by today’s tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased man and our wider project team.

“The police and the Health and Safety Executive are on site and we have suspended work until further notice. We will cooperate fully with any investigation that follows.”

Featured Image — Everton FC (via YouTube)

UK News

Bez and Shaun Ryder are starring in a new gangster movie – nope, not kidding

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bez and Shaun Ryder acting in new gangster film

No, you didn’t misread the headline and you’re not on acid: Manchester music legends Bez and Shaun Ryder are set to feature in a brand-new gangster film.

Yes, the ones from the Happy Mondays – why are you having such trouble processing this?

Seriously though, we did a little double-take ourselves when we came across this news, but the familiar Manc faces look to be among the ensemble of a brand-new gangster movie by Irish writer, actor, producer and filmmaker, Ciaron Davies.

And this is just a little leak or rumour that may have been blown out of proportion: you can take it from the horse’s mouth as Happy Mondays frontman, Ryder, recently shared the news on social media.

As you can see, the new film is called Geezers and is billed as a “British crime caper” written and directed by Davies, featuring Shaun as hard-man Robbie and Bez as ‘Monk’. If you saw Ryder shaking off that snake biting his hand like it was nothing then you already know he’s hard as nails.

Although it’s not strictly listed as a comedy per se, ‘caper’ would suggest plenty of humour and light-heartedness, so we’re thinking more like The Gentleman, Italian Job, or maybe even Four Lions, rather than a serious crime thriller.

Now, while we’ve seen both of the Salfordians on screen before not only in the likes of music videos, interviews, panel shows and even as two of the funniest guests to ever go on Celebrity Gogglebox, this latest venture will serve as their respective acting debuts.

According to the IMDb page, the synopsis of the film is as follows: “Crime caper about a stolen bag of money. Caught in the crossfire are ‘The Geezers’ a bunch of wannabe criminals who have bitten off more than they can chew. With 24 hours to grab the cash, London may just go up in smoke tonight.”

Shame it’s not set on the mean streets of Manchester, or better yet Salford, but you’ve still very much caught our interest.

You can see the first promotional poster for the film down below.

Read more:

As for Davies, he has been involved with a number of small-budget TV film projects, as well as appearing in shorts and even video games, so it’s fair to say that getting 62-year-old Ryder and his ever-energetic hype man, 60, involved is quite the coup for his movie-making career.

We’re still not over Bez rather randomly delivering a curry to our offices, to be honest, so seeing him act is going to feel like one long fever dream.

Although the film has no release date just yet, we know that filming locations having included parts of Warrington and Pinewood Studios, will be produced by Loose Gripp Films and distributed by publishers High Fliers.

Given the high-octane nature of Geezers and its genre, the feature will involve lots of action, stunts, violence and even martial arts – though how much kung-fu these two will have learned for the project remains to be seen…

All we know is that the film is supposedly “coming soon” and if you don’t want to see Bez and Shaun Ryder doing their best impression of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie then you’re lying to yourself. Praying for a Rowetta cameo to put the cherry on top.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Shaun Ryder (via X)/Loose Gripp Films/IMDb

UK News

This Manchester suburb has just been named one of the UK’s ‘happiest’ places to live in 2024

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia Didsbury named one of the best places to live in the UK

An annual poll has named the Manchester suburb of Didsbury spot among 70 locations said to be the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Greater Manchester has got lots to say for itself, especially with its diverse and unique cultural landscapes, as well as various vibrant communities, so it comes as no surprise that one of our beautiful suburbs has been voted in a list of the UK’s happiest places to live for this year.

The survey included submissions from 5,000 people and there’s a lot of love being shown to the neighbouring areas of Yorkshire like Doncaster, Bingley, and Harrogate – the lattermost placed in second in the entire country.

But, ranking 62nd out of a possible 70 places, the distinct and vibrant area of Didsbury has been noticed by Furniturebox as one of the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Credit: The Manc Group

The results took into consideration good state schools, affordable housing, as well as accessibility to pubs, bars, restaurants, independent shops, retailers and more.

With multiple parks, walking destinations, and top-notch travel links with Bee Network trams and buses easily taking you back into the city centre and out to other boroughs, East, West and Didsbury Village all remain some of the most sought-after areas in the region.

There’s a whole host of indie retailers to enjoy, especially on the likes of the main high street and Burton Road, which effectively serves as its own cultural district, home to vintage clothing shops like Steranko, tailored styling opticians Fox Brothers and much more.

Burton Rd also boasts countless fantastic food and drink spots like The Great Kathmandu, SANTÉ, Volta and Proove Pizza, just to name a few; we’ve spent plenty of time just on this stretch of Didsbury alone.

If you’ve spent even a little time in Dids, you’ll know there’s plenty going on and it’s certainly one our happiest places in all of Greater Manchester and therefore the UK.

You can also enjoy the famous ‘Didsbury Dozen’ right on your doorstep.

Read more:

Elsewhere, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Shakespeare’s ever-romanticised hometown of Stratford-Upon-Avon once again reigned supreme at the top of this list.

That being said, it’s refreshing to see that these locations weren’t entirely related to wealth and similar factors, the survey took affordability into careful consideration.

Cheshire was destined for success with its cracking views and grand properties, as the North West county made waves for the region managing to place in fifth position, holding up against Falmouth in Cornwall which placed in sixth.

Although not nabbing that all-important top spot, Didsbury is carrying the flag for 0161 and showing what all know to be true: Northerners do it best.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – The Manc Group

More UK News

Manchester United stadium sleepout raises £30l for local homeless community

Manchester

Manchester United’s latest Stadium Sleep Out raises £30k for the homeless and vulnerable young people

Tommy Fury boxing in Manchester Co-op Live vs Darren Till

Sport

Tommy Fury announces return to boxing after dropping out of I’m a Celeb 2024 last-minute

itsu half price offer Manchester

Eats

People are finally discovering this super easy money-saving food hack

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches