This weekend will see thousands of people from all corners of the country head towards Manchester in protest of the highly controversial (hydraulic fracturing shale gas extraction technique) more commonly known as Fracking, in what is thought will be the biggest demonstration staged in the UK yet.

A march against the governments stance on Fracking will take place with campaigners gathering in Piccadilly Gardens from 11am and marching to Castleton  around midday to hear speeches around 1pm from fellow Anti Frackers, including Labour GM Mayoral candidate Andy Burnham and Bianca Jagger the former wife of Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger who will give speeches alongside former climate change diplomat John Ashton.

The last time a rally of this size was held it was at Barton Moss where well in excess of two thousand people turned up from as far across the nation to protest against iGas who were undertaking exploratory borehole drilling in the area. It is hoped by organisers that this event will top that and say that all are welcome to attend.

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“Everyone is welcome and invited to bring banner, costumes, musical instruments and everything else to make this a huge, fun, family day out that also sends the message loud and clear to the government that the ‘bleak and desolate north’ will not be fracked.”

From November 2013 to April 2014 Campaigners inhabited the Barton Moss protection camp through hail rain and snow to raise awareness of the environmental impact Fracking would have on the fragile moss-land eco system. Protests included “slow walking” in front of vehicles accessing the site, non-violent direct action, and rallies, music events and family days.

Saturdays event is a direct response to the Government who dramatically over-ruled Lancashire County Councils decision to block Fracking and hand Quadrilla a licence for the Little Plumpton site.

Salford and indeed the Northwest are not alone in protesting against the oil and gas industry, protesters from across America have recently descended on Standing Rock to stop a controversial pipeline being placed across Native Indian owned land. This has lead to a confrontation and now a stand off with the police and protesters.

UPDATE: As of 13:15pm the bridge has now reopened to traffic and it is business as usual.

Police are advising motorists heading into Trafford from Salford via Centenary Bridge to divert across Barton Bridge until they can reopen it after dealing with a Road Traffic Accident. Inbound Traffic is not affected and the lane remains open.

So if you need to pop to Big ASDA or the Trafford Centre this afternoon then Barton is your best option.

Traffic has already started to backup in the area as of 12:40pm.

We will update this article when more news in available.

In a bid to dispel rumours and myths being circulated around via social media the GMP Chief Constable has issued the following statement to try and clear up the confusion over the current sentencing situation. 

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The below message has been released by GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins in response to recent media coverage of cautions given for rape:

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “Understandably given the coverage around individuals being cautioned for rape, the people of Greater Manchester must be concerned due to the nature of the offences.

“I would like to reassure the public that we have robust procedures and scrutiny in place to ensure that, on the rare occasion cautions are given for serious offences, it is in the interests of the victim and the wider public.

“A caution is a serious matter. It is recorded by police and may be cited in subsequent proceedings. Cautions for indictable offences can only be authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, and only then when they have been reviewed by an officer of Superintendent rank or above.

“The Police and Crime Commissioner has a Quality Assurance Board that scrutinises rape cases that haven’t been prosecuted. Individual senior police officers and CPS representatives sit on this board.

“Of the 14 cases highlighted in the media, eight were referred to and authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service. There was one case where this didn’t happen but in that case the offender was 11-years-old and the victim just five so the senior officer made absolutely the right decision and this was made with the parents’ agreement.

“The remaining five, while reported initially as rape, once investigated were found to have insufficient evidence for a charge of rape. However, there was enough evidence to establish that a lesser offence had been committed.

“Three of the five cautions were then authorised by the CPS and two were authorised by police officers.

“In the 14 cases, which happened over a five year period, the majority of the offenders were children. Youth offending teams were consulted and the decision to caution was only made after proper consideration. In all cases the victims and their families were consulted.

“I hope this helps to clarify this situation and the public understand the complex nature of these types of offences and the very thorough and robust decision-making processes that we follow throughout.”

 

The first swathe of 19 criminals involved in Salford's organised crime underworld have been sentenced following a three-year undercover operation.

This week eleven men and two women have been sentenced for a total of 135 years at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, having pleaded guilty at previous hearings.

The sentences follow an intelligence-led police operation that was carried out between February 2012 and March 2015.

In total, 24 people were charged, resulting in convictions for 78 offences, with a further six defendants due to be sentenced at the end of November.

The overall operation has resulted in convictions for a variety of gun and drug crimes.

Twelve people have been convicted of gun trafficking offences and seven firearms have been recovered by police.

Quantities of Class A, B and C drugs have also been recovered; along with drugs paraphernalia and the cutting agent benzocaine used for Class A drug trafficking offences.

In addition, officers uncovered a cannabis farm and recovered three stolen motorbikes.

All of the arrests were made on 9 September 2015 at the culmination of Operation damson in a pro-active intelligence led investigation utilising amongst other tactics undercover officers. The investigation has been conducted by GMP Serious Crime Division.

Foremost among the criminals was Terence William Hamer Snr, who was a constant throughout the three-year period acting as a supplier, broker and facilitator of the supply of firearms and drugs.

Through Hamer Snr, investigators identified a network of criminals involved not only in firearms and drugs, but also stolen goods and violence.

Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, borough commander of GMP's Salford borough, said: "The scale of this week's sentences demonstrates that people who operate in organised crime in Greater Manchester will be caught, brought before the courts, and made to serve significant jail terms.

"The operation has removed seven guns from the streets of Salford, and directly stopped countless further criminal acts occurring. To remove one gun from the streets is good news, to remove seven is immense."

"The sale of drugs and outbreaks of violence were a consistent feature in the lives of those who became embroiled in this underworld.

"The prison terms highlight how strongly we will deal with those involved in gun crime and drug supply, and should send a clear message to others who are considering a life in organised crime."

Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd said:
“This is tremendous work by Greater Manchester Police, in particular the brave officer who put himself at risk to protect others by collecting the intelligence needed to bring these gangsters and gun-runners to justice.

“Like all police operations, this will have been a huge team effort, and I commend each and every officer involved in catching these dangerous criminals. But I also want to thank those Salfordians who helped provide the local knowledge so vital in helping the police get these thugs off the streets and into jail.”

Updated Weds 09/11 - Snow is a no show at the moment, not a single flake spotted across Salford, however across higher ground there have been some showers.

The UK Meteorological Office has issued a yellow snow warning (Not that kind) for the Salford and Greater Manchester Area.

Salford Snow 2008

'He remains one of the most entertaining observational comics on the block' Independent

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'One of comedy’s hottest properties...Very talented, very funny’ Evening Standard

However dishevelled he may be, the Foster's Comedy Award nominee is also one of the best comics in the country. With a keen observational mind, Seann can spot the absurdity in everything and convert it to perfectly delivered stand-up comedy. 

You might have seen Seann on TV, but he’s something else live – pacing the stage, working the room and reducing crowds to hysterics. Even if he’d probably rather be at home watching Sky Sports News.

 “Walsh is this generation’s Dylan Moran” Time Out

“Seann Walsh is young, attractive and blonde” (Broadway Baby, five years ago). This is actual quote! Blonde!!? Go and see him because he's blonde!?? 

Team captain of Channel 4 and E4’s Virtually Famous and regular on ITV’s Play To The Whistle.

As seen on BBC1’s Live at the Apollo, ITV’s Jonathan Ross Show and Tonight at The London Palladium, ITV 2’s Celebrity Juice, Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Comedy Central’s Russell Howards Stand Up Central.

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‘Unquestionably the best observational comic of his generation’ The Guardian

16+

Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee.

Hot on the heels of her 2016 smash-hit season at the West End’s Criterion Theatre, by popular demand Nina Conti is back on the road with her sell-out 2015 show ‘In Your Face’. Strap into the mask as Nina, Monkey and a bag of tricks improvise their way through an adventure of hilarious witchery. No two shows are ever the same!

She’s won a British Comedy Award, stormed Live at the Apollo, Russell Howard’s Good News, Sunday Night at the Palladium, and made a BAFTA nominated film - all without moving her lips. Expect the unexpected…

Purchase Tickets

• Buy Sun Oct 23 : 7:30pm

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★★★★ ‘Gut-Bustingly Funny’ Daily Telegraph

★★★★ ‘You will see nothing like it onstage’ Evening Standard

★★★★ ‘In short: a hoot’ The Guardian

★★★★ ‘A hilarious blast… comedy gold’ Metro

 

Families Halloween Party

Friday 28th Oct, 7pm - 9pm 

Tickets are priced at 50p per adult and £1 per child and can be purchased from the Big Steps ladies Kerry Williams and Debi Young at St Sebs (term time only) or by contacting Diane on Facebook - Link

Prizes for best fancy dress (child and adult)
Plus lots of games and dancing

All children must be accompanied by an adult and supervised at all times. Hot dogs and tuck shop items on sale.

Hope to see you there ??

Thanks

Leanne

After his last show tackled those well-known staples of light entertainment that are the British obsession with home ownership and the self-serving nature of most fundraising efforts, this time Henning’s having an unbiased look at immigration. He also wonders, if, generally speaking, people are competent. Luckily in his case this doesn’t matter as either he’s funny or he lives up to a national stereotype. It’s a win-win situation. Come along. Or else.

Purchase Tickets

• Buy Sat Oct 22 : 8pm

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Forget about the Euro, Henning hits the Mark - Nottingham Post

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His accent is not so much German as indescribable - Daily Mail

Henning’s latest TV appearances include presenting An Immigrant's Guide To Britain (Channel 4), Live At The Apollo (BBC2), Would I Lie To You (BBC1), Bake Off - Extra Slice (BBC2), Have I Got News For You (BBC1), The Road To Rio co-presented with Mark Watson (six part series for Dave and 70+ territories worldwide), various 8 Out Of 10 Cats & 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), Room 101 (BBC1), Newsnight (BBC2), This Week (BBC1), Backchat (BBC3), QI (BBC2) and Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave, unsurprisingly). 

On radio he recently presented Wall In The Head (BBC World Service) and This Is Me, Totally Sausage (BBC Radio 4) and can be heard regularly on Fighting Talk (BBC Five Live) and The Unbelievable Truth (BBC Radio 4).

Once more Irlam will be holding its annual display at Prince's Park, Liverpool Road, Irlam, M44 68R.

Fun Fair starts at 17:00

Arrive early if travelling by car as the area becomes quickly congested and parking can be a nightmare.

Please be respectful when parking and be sure not to block local peoples drives etc..

Buile Hill Park and Salford City Council will once more be holding its much loved annual bonfire and fireworks display this coming Bonfire Night. 

As per usual the fun fair will be there along with refreshment stands dotted around the park.

   Funfair Opens @ 17:00

   Bonfire Lit @ : 19:00

   Fireworks Display @ : 19:30

As always it is advised to get there early if you are looking for parking as the event attracts people from far and wide resulting in parking being hard to find. Please be considerate to local homes when parking and be sure not to block drives etc..

If you are not going to the display then we advise you to avoid and bypass the area around the display times as Weaste Lane along with surrounding streets can get a little jammed.

Wrap up warm and stay safe folks.

The guys and gals at SLADS are putting on another fantastic musical, details bellow.

Everybody's favourite randomist is back.  As always Ross has lots of stuff backing up in his head and it's time to let it all out.  

Famed for his super quick freewheeling style and highly imaginative flights of fancy, a Ross Noble show is always an unmissable event. 

Noble started in comedy 25 years ago, at the age of 15, and has established a loyal audience as one of the world’s best live stand-ups.

Come and be part of this truly unique live experience. Join Ross as audience and performer come together for a massive Brain Dump. 

Book Your Tickets:

• Buy Thurs Oct 20 : 8pm
• Buy Fri Oct 21 : 8pm

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Beautifully twisted thoughts - The Times

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The supreme master of spontaneous stand-up and true king of surreal flights of fantasy - Time Out

Throughout October Martin and Sam will be raising money for our nominated charity by decorating the outside of their house at 108 Station Road, Swinton, M27 6AL (Facing Matalan in Swinton, trust us you won’t miss it!) with a Halloween theme!

The nominated charity this year is the mental health charity, MIND (www.mind.org.uk/). 

MIND believes that ‘no-one should have to face a mental health problem alone.’ They aim to ensure that every single person can get the help and support they require when facing a mental health problem. Did you know that 1 in 4 people EVERY YEAR experience a mental health problem?... this shows just how important and essential the work that MIND does is. 

We will be taking cash donations during the visiting time below, or you can donate via our Just Giving link (see the comments).

VISITING TIMES

If you think you are brave enough and would like to have a peek inside The Halloween House then please come between the following Visiting Times

Monday 24th October to Thursday 27th October: 5.30pm till 9pm
Friday 28th October: 6pm till 10pm
Saturday 29th October: 11am till 3pm (Closed Saturday evening for a private party)
Sunday 30th October: 4pm till 8 pm
Monday 31st October (Halloween) 5.30pm till 9 pm

*** PLEASE NOTE THAT THE HALLOWEEN HOUSE IS CLOSED FROM 3pm ON 29th OCTOBER 2016 AS MARTIN AND SAM WILL HAVE A PRIVATE PARTY FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ONLY***

DO WE NEED TO BOOK?
There is no booking system, you just turn up during the times and join the queue :). In the past it can get very busy so we would recommend that you join the queue at least 45 minutes before the closing time stated to make sure you get in!

PARTY BAGS
As it is Halloween, all children aged 10 and under that visit will receive a small sweetie goody bag (whilst stocks last).
Each day there will be ONE winners ticket hidden in the party bags (with a special GOLDEN TICKET on Halloween). Whoever finds the ticket in their party bag will win a prize! The prize MUST be collected on the night so make sure you check your party bags straight away, just incase you are the winner!

WHAT IS A VIP TICKET?
You may have noticed that our competitions include a 'VIP ticket' and wondered what this is! This year we have some super special VIP tickets, which will be given out to competition winners, special guests etc. These tickets allow the holder and the number of guests specified to come to the house and enter the next tour.... which means there is no requirement to queue!

*** House Rules and Points to Remember***

To make sure everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience at The Halloween House there are a few house rules that we kindly ask you follow:

- All children aged 13 and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

- The number of visitors able to go inside the house at one time is limited to 8, so please be patient if there is a queue. On occasions last year there was a wait of approximately an hour at peak times. 

- As always, the weather in England in October isn’t the greatest, therefore make sure you bring coats/umbrellas just incase as we don’t have anywhere undercover suitable for people to queue.

- We would like as many people to enjoy the Halloween House as possible therefore we kindly ask that you only do an indoor tour a maximum of twice as we are limited on how many we can do. 

- We will be operating a ‘child swap’ scheme for any children that change their mind about coming in. At least one responsible adult will need to wait outside with the child, whilst the rest of the party goes through the house. Once the party exits the house (at the rear) they will need to make their way back to the front of the house after which the adult(s) that had waited will then be added to the next available group going into the house (with no requirement to queue again). Please let the person on the door know if you need to do this. 

- Remember The Halloween House is Martin and Sam’s home that they have kindly opened up to raise money for charity, therefore please respect the visiting hours.

- Donations are not compulsory, however very much appreciated and ALL money donated will go to our nominated charities. There will be a locked donation box on the house, a donation tub available during visiting times or you can donate online (See the comments for the link to the Just Giving page).

- As Martin and Sam work in a nursery they both have an enhanced CRB check completed.

- No open food or drink will be allowed in the house.

- Some of the props are activated by a 'step here' pad. Please step lightly on them; they do not require much pressure. Martin has spent a lot of time and money finding the props for everyone to enjoy so the last thing we want is for anything to get broken.

So, that’s the serious bit out of the way… now for the real question… Are you ready to enter The Halloween House!? 
We think the house this year is the SCARIEST YET!

Be afraid… be VERY afraid!

An artist who has received Ivor Novello, Grammy, BASCAP  awards along with a flotilla of gold and platinum records, really needs very little introduction. Musical success is seldom measured in time spans of more than a few years, if not Andy Warhol's often quoted "fifteen minutes", so the fact that by the time Midge's single "If I Was" went to No1 in 1985 he had already crammed several musical lifetimes into a 10 year professional career speaks volumes Slik, The Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy, Visage, Ultravox and of course the most famous one off group in musical history Band Aid had by then all had the guiding hand of his musical navigation.

Tickets

£23.00 Includes booking fees.

Performances

Mon 24 Oct 20:00

Read more at http://www.thelowry.com/event/midge-ure1#1kj3foOg2K1TezqJ.99

"I really enjoyed playing Breathe in it's entirety and there were some surprising successes! Album, tracks that I didn't really expect people to be aware of became the stars of the show, and this started me thinking about revisiting some older material that I never envisaged playing again as well as a raft of hits. Then I decided it would be a fun idea to play something from every album I have recorded right from the Rich Kids, via Visage and Ultravox, to my latest solo album, Fragile"

The "Something from Everything" Tour, will be performed in a format that will provide the framework of texture and diversity without detracting from the essence of the most important factor - the songs!

Prizes for the best fancy dress.

Join in the spooky fun with the spirits (see what I did there?) on the 29th of October for a 'Frightfully Fangstastic Halloween Monster Mash' at the Town Hall Haunted Hotel in Eccles. (May not actually be haunted other than by Tony Flynn).

106 Church St Eccles, M30 0LH Manchester, United Kingdom

The car was later found burnt out on Falcon Drive.

Police are appealing for witnesses and have released CCTV images of a man they want to speak to in connection with the incident.

Detective Sergeant Mark Toker of GMP’s Salford Borough said: “These men brazenly targeted a shop-owner in the middle of the day, brandishing weapons, and it was fortunate that he was not hurt.

“The man in the CCTV image is wearing a balaclava, but I’m hoping it may jog someone’s memory and I would urge you to get in touch if you have any information.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 794 of 03/10/16, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.