Both carriageways of the M602 were closed this morning after reports of a person having fallen onto the carriageway from a bridge between junctions 1 and 2 of the busy motorway. The Westbound carriage way has since fully reopened and the Eastbound currently remains closed but it is thought that it too will reopen by the afternoon.

It is unclear at this moment as to if the person has survived and emergency crews are currently on scene dealing with the situation. A rapid response unit and the air ambulance were both been deployed.

GMP have put out the following update via Twitter.

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"Police are on scene at the incident on the Eastbound Carriageway #Gilderbrook M602.

"If you are about to set off please avoid the area.

"We will keep you updated. Those stuck in the traffic behind the incident please wait instructions from Police. Please do not breach the block."

 

Motorists were told to avoid the area if they could and find alternative routes.

The A57 Liverpool Rd, Bentcliffe Way, Eccles New Rd and A576 Gilda Brook Rd became extremely congested and motorists were advised to avoid the area if heading that way.

Our thoughts are with the person and their family at this time.

Photo: SM Stock

A man has been jailed after a fatal road traffic collision in November 2018 which killed 8-year-old Emily Connor in Monton, Salford.

Jon-Paul Caruana (20/03/1994) of Lawndale Drive, Worsley, was sentenced today (Friday 28 February 2020) at Manchester Crown Court to three years and four months in prison and has been disqualified from driving for four years and eight months after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard how on the morning of Saturday 10 November 2018, Caruana was late for work and was driving at speeds of up to 50mph in the moments before he collided with Emily Connor on Monton Road while she and her grandmother were crossing to get to a bus stop.

The fatal incident triggered an extensive investigation from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit that ultimately disproved Caruana’s initial denials to detectives that he was rushing and ever went above the speed limit of 30mph.

On the morning of Saturday 10 February 2018, Caruana was driving to his work at Salford Quays in his blue Vauxhall Corsa with his partner and their four-month-old child.

He was rushing to pick up a colleague to travel to work with after initially having to return home because he had forgotten his security fob.

In an attempt to get to his destination on time, Caruana was seen on CCTV overtaking a car at excessive speed on Folly Lane – just over a mile away from Monton Road where the collision was to take place.

Witnesses described Caruana’s driving before the collision and how he appeared to be increasingly agitated due to factors slowing down his journey such as temporary traffic lights and queues of traffic.

Emily Connor – who lived in Chesterfield and was visiting her grandparents for the weekend – was crossing Monton Road while holding her grandmother’s hand to get to the bus stop to travel to the Trafford Centre, where they were planning to go shopping for the day.

Despite the road appearing initially clear, Caruana was seen seconds later driving down the road at speeds of 50mph and sounding his car horn before Emily broke free of her grandmother’s hand in an attempt to get to safety.

Emily was unable to avoid the car and, despite the best efforts of emergency services, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Caruana was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and was questioned by officers, where he repeatedly stated over the course of three interviews that he did not exceed over 30mph before the incident occurred.

Due to detailed forensic collision work as well as CCTV and phone analysis, the investigating team were able to uncover the extent of Caruana’s dangerous driving that day.

This included dash cam and CCTV footage of him travelling at speed in the moments preceding the collision as well as a Whatsapp message sent from Caruana’s partner to the work colleague referring to how he was ‘breaking speed barriers’ in an attempt to pick him up on time.

On Tuesday 4 February 2020 Caruana pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving before he was later sentenced to three years and four months in custody.

Police Sergeant Lee Westhead, of GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said:

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“The patience and dignity shown by Emily’s family throughout this investigation has been inspiring. This was a long and complex investigation into a sustained period of dangerous driving over some distance.

“Ultimately, faced with the overwhelming evidence gathered against him, Caruana had to abandon his lies and face up to the enormity of what he had done – all because he was a few minutes late. He treated other road users with contempt and his flagrant disregard for the rules of the road resulted in an unimaginable tragedy.

“I hope that Emily’s family take some comfort from today’s sentencing and I send them my sincere condolences and best wishes for the future as they continue to rebuild their lives.

“Drivers need to take heed of today’s case; nothing was worth the loss of the life of a wonderful little girl. We share our roads with vulnerable road users – treat each other with respect.”

Emily’s family were present at the sentencing hearing and released the following statement: “The family and friends of our daughter, Emily, would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank everyone who came forward in assisting the police with their investigation.

“We would like to especially thank those who stayed with Emily at the scene. It gave us great comfort knowing you were with her.

“Emily’s brothers and ourselves have somehow got to try to move forward, without our beautiful girl. We hope to live in a way Emily would have wanted us to - with grace and compassion.”

 

Officers are appealing for information following a robbery at Ferryhill Stores on Ferryhill Road on Thursday 6 February 2020.

At around 6.20am two men entered the store and threatened a shopworker, demanding cash.

They fled on foot with a quantity of cash  down Ferry Road towards the Boathouse pub.

There were no reports of injuries.

One man is described as white, around 6ft tall, very thin and was wearing a black hoodie.

The second man was white and around 5ft 5ins tall.

No further descriptions are available.

Anyone with information or footage should call police on 0161 856 5351 quoting incident number 512 of 06/02/2020

Details can also be passed on anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A trainee manager who plied a young man with drugs before wrapping his lifeless body in plastic and dumping him in Salford woodland has been jailed.

Neil Cuckson (16/10/1987) of Eccles Old Road Salford was sentenced to six years in prison at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, today (Friday 28 February 2020) after pleading guilty to administering a noxious substance, supplying class A and class C controlled drugs, perverting the course of justice and preventing lawful burial.

Hiran Chauhan left his work as a chef at a Norther Quarter restaurant at 10pm on Tuesday 2 July 2019.

He travelled to Eccles on a tram before getting a taxi to the address of Cuckson.

When Hiran failed to attend work the following day, his concerned employees contacted his family, before they in turn contacted police to report him missing.

Officers launched a search, establishing that Hiran’s phone had last been used in the early hours of Wednesday morning 3 July 2019.

Following further enquiries to trace Hiran, his body was sadly found a week later on 9 July 2019 by a woman walking in woodland off Eccles Old Road, close to the junction of Brentwood.

The body had been wrapped in plastic garden sheeting and bedding.

Officers immediately launched a murder investigation and – while conducting enquiries – noticed a man walking in the area who appeared to actively avoid their attention.

That man was Neil Cuckson, who after being stopped by the officers invited them back to his property so he could fill in a house-to-house enquiries questionnaire.

Meanwhile, detectives traced CCTV showing Cuckson attempting to place Hiran’s body in the back of a silver Suzuki Swift car on Eccles Old Road at around 1.40am on Monday 8 July.

Having failed, Cuckson was then seen to drag the body toward the patch of woodland where it was later found.

He was arrested on suspicion of murder.

In interview, Cuckson said he’d met Hiran on an online dating app, before agreeing to meet and engage in consensual drug taking and sexual intercourse.

After Hiran’s death, further enquiries revealed Cuckson had travelled to Bolton to buy a wheelbarrow and a shovel in an aborted plan to bury Hiran’s body.

Cuckson also attempted to maintain appearances by continuing to go work at the convenience store he was employed at in Manchester City Centre – where he was training to become a store manager.

After several days and with Hiran’s body still within his flat, he purchased the silver Suzuki Swift seen in CCTV off an online marketplace website, as part of the failed attempt to move Hiran to a different location.

Cuckson also discarded Hiran’s phone on a footpath beside the River Irwell.

Duncan Thorpe, Senior Investigating Officer for GMP’s Major Incident Team, said:

Quote

“It’s clear from the many tributes following his death that Hiran was a very popular and well-liked man.

“He was a friend to many, well-known around Manchester and for his career as a chef in the Norther Quarter. He will be sadly missed by friends, family and colleagues.

“Hiran could never have foreseen the dreadful consequences of visiting Cuckson that evening. It’s clear that Cuckson was the driving force behind the pair’s drug use that night – mixing and preparing narcotics that he plied to Hiran, who was relatively inexperienced in such matters.

“After realising Hiran was dead, Cuckson went to great lengths to attempt to conceal his body and avoid detection.

“These were the actions of a paranoid and callous man, who showed a complete disregard for the young man lying lifeless in his property.

“Why he did not contact emergency services immediately is beyond comprehension. His actions put Hiran’s family through a great deal of further stress and unnecessary suffering at what was already a dreadful time.”

Greater Manchester Police's XM13 Transport Unit spotted a Fiat 500 car being driven by two young lads which looked very out of place.

The  vehicle was pursued by patrols through Manchester and brought to a stop after being boxed in, preventing its occupants escape.

Checks confirmed the car had been earlier stolen during a Burglary in Salford.

The vehicle was recovered and two males were arrested for burglary, driving offences and are now being held in custody.
 

Police are asking for the publics help in finding a high risk person who has gone missing in Salford.

Connor Smith-MacPhee, age 26 , was last seen on Scholars Avenue, Salford, heading towards Cholmondley Road and has been missing since 1:04am this morning (Thursday 27th Feb).

He is said to be wearing a grey jumper, grey joggers and black trainers.

If seen, please get in touch via 101 quoting reference MSP/06FF/0000473/20

Police were called after reports of yet another firearms discharge on a Salford street, the 26th shooting in the city since last January. 

This time a dog unfortunately received a gunshot wound but fortunately we can report that it survived the attack and it is not thought that it was the intended target.

At around 10:30am yesterday morning (Tuesday 25th Feb), police responded to a report of a firearms discharge at a property on Lissadel Street which had apparently taken place the night before at around 10:30pm.

Three masked men reportedly knocked on the door fired upon the property as the door was opened before fleeing the scene.

An area was temporarily cordoned off as forensics officers carried out searches.

Representatives from high schools in Salford will come together this Friday (February 28) to learn about knife crime – and it’s all thanks to young people from the city.

Salford’s Youth Council has organised the half day conference after young people raised knife crime as a concern.

Representatives from Greater Manchester Police, will be taking part along with former gang member turned youth worker Hezron Brown from Birmingham who won last year’s Pride of Britain award. The Broughton Trust’s anti-knife crime play GetHelp, aimed at pupils in years 10 and 11 to help them understand the risk and consequences of carrying a knife will also be performed.

Youth Mayor Rose Palmer, 16, Youth MP Jude Paterson, 14 and Youth Council member Ollie Edwards, 14, have been the driving force behind the project.

Rose, who attends St Patrick’s RC High School, said:

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“Knife crime is one of the top issues for young people in Salford though we’re no worse than anywhere else. It’s only a minority of young people who are involved and we want to focus on those who don’t get involved.”

Jude, a pupil at Swinton High school, added:

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“We’re putting on workshops about the effects of knife crime on yourself, your family, people around you and the legal side of it, an emergency first aid session and we’ve invited Hezron Brown to speak about his regrets about getting involved with gangs. We’re really proud of what we’ve done.”

Youth Council members have also put together a pack of information for young delegates and their teachers to take back to school so they can share what they have learned in an assembly.

Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety , said:

Quote

“The Youth Council has done an amazing job in putting this conference together. We are already doing a huge amount of work in schools, through our youth service and through Project Gulf to steer young people away from crime and into more positive life choices but every opportunity to raise the issue is welcome.”

Funding for the conference at Broughton Hub came from a £300,000 package of help from the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, Baroness Beverley Hughes. Salford City Council has used the funds on initiatives to help young people stay safe, improve their school attendance and achievements, reduce the number of school exclusions and cut the number of young people involved in crime and/or in custody. Other initiatives include mentoring and coaching for young people in custody and more trading standards work to ensure businesses are complying with the law on knife sales.

Chief Inspector Ben Ewart, of GMP’s Salford Division, said:

Quote

 

“Thanks to continued work with local partners, we are making huge in-roads into reducing the number of knives on the streets of Salford and tackling the causes of knife enabled crime.

“As part of Operation Sycamore – GMP’s response to tackling serious violent crime, with a particular interest in knife crime – officers from the Salford division have been working closely with local schools and youth provision to educate young people on the impact of knife crime and provide intervention opportunities.

“In recent months, we have introduced school engagement police officers into six of the largest high schools across the city. These dedicated officers provide support by dealing with incidents of crime, providing a high visibility police presence and engaging in a range of prevention activities.

“As well as working closely with young people, we continue to undertake high profile policing activity in the city’s knife crime hotspots with officers regularly conducting intelligence led weapon sweeps - successfully recovering concealed and discarded weapons. We have also served almost 200 disruption notices to individuals believed to be involved in crime.

“As a force we have recently launched a Forever Knife Amnesty, which sees ten permanent knife amnesty bins deployed at police stations throughout the region, with Salford’s bin located at Swinton Police Station. I would urge the people of Salford to see the forever amnesty as the perfect opportunity to dispose of knives in a completely safe and anonymous way.”

 

The money will be used to support the 23-storey Stanley Street residential project with works set to start on site in March.

English Cities Fund, a joint venture between Muse, Legal and General and Homes England, submitted the request for £4.7m from the Salford Central Development Trust Account (DTA) – because the site is nonviable without the contribution.

The DTA account was set up in 2006 to ‘lock in’ the value created from more profitable developments in the Salford Central master-plan area to support less viable projects.

Planning permission was approved in October 2019 for a landmark 23-storey building with 6-storey podium block to provide 211 apartments, ground floor commercial units and £3.3 million of public realm improvements.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: 

Quote

 

“The regeneration of the Salford continues and the site on Stanley Street features an impressive £3.3 million of public realm improvements. The land used to be a surface car park but it is now being converted into homes with units available for businesses to create jobs in the area. The area will be totally unrecognisable when it is transformed.

“Salford is growing and this is providing investment, new jobs and opportunities that the city can benefit from. This year at the council I have presented a budget that offers no further cuts to the vital services we provide to the public. It is only thanks to our own financial management and growth, with projects like this at Stanley Street, that we have been able to cushion the impact of further cuts to our budget on residents.”

 

The Salford Central Master-plan is a 20 year regeneration initiative. It is one of the UK’s largest development projects, ranking 25th in Planning magazine's 2013 survey of the country’s 100 biggest regeneration projects.

The Salford Central Master-plan is made up of two inter-dependent but distinct areas; Chapel Street and New Bailey.

The scheme has the capacity to provide £650 million investment, 11,000 new jobs and 197,000 sqm of commercial space.

Projects complete so far include:

·  the £10m transformation of the A6 corridor, which has delivered 17,000sqm of improved highways and public realm in and around Chapel Street

·  completion of English Cities Fund’s ‘Vimto Gardens’ mixed use residential and retail scheme fronting Chapel Street, delivering 83 apartments and 14 town houses in addition to ground floor retail and commercial units

·  installation of a new footbridge linking New Bailey to Manchester’s Spinningfields district which will lead to a direct pedestrian route to Salford Central Station through the New Bailey regeneration area

·  completion of the first phase at New Bailey includes a 143 bedroom riverside hotel (Premier Inn), new junction arrangements and a multi storey car park at Irwell Street

·  conversion of the long vacant ‘Brown Brothers’ engineering site on the corner of Chapel Street and Trinity Way into a 4 star independent boutique hotel and spa ‘The Ainscow’. Over 90% of the workforce was recruited locally through a recruitment and training partnership developed in conjunction with the Broughton Trust and Salford City Council

Housing association, Salix Homes, recently donated £500 through its Springboard community fund to local support group Time Out for Carers. 

The group which offers support, respite and information about carers rights to unpaid carers, meets every Wednesday afternoon at the Sutton Community Centre in Langworthy. The cash boost means the group can continue to provide social events and activities for its hard-working members throughout the year. 

Jean Elliott, the group’s secretary said:

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“Being a carer can be very tiring and stressful, so we’re here to provide our members with much needed respite. Carers can come here for support and advice, though most people come to have relax and chat with friends.”   

The Springboard community grant programme supports projects and initiatives in Salford that boost community spirit, promote health and wellbeing, reduce isolation or improve the environment. 

Warren Carlon, communities service director at Salix Homes, said:

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“We’re really proud to be able to support Time Out for Carers. Caring for loved ones can often be really isolating, so the group really does help to make a positive difference to the lives of its members. They’re the first project to receive Springboard funding this year and it’s truly well deserved. I’d encourage any other community groups in need of funding in Salford to consider applying to our Springboard fund as we might be able to give them that boost they need.”  
 

Elizabeth Royle, the group’s chair said: “We’re thrilled to receive this donation from Salix Homes. We’ve just had our first committee meeting of the year, where we discuss what we’d like to do and where we’d like to go and this money will really help us to be able to offer more to our members.”  

 

 
The group is soon moving to Springbank, run by Salix Homes in Seedley.  

Since launching Springboard in 2017, Salix Homes has donated more than £100,000 to local groups and projects in Salford. Recipients have included a care home, dance troupes, grassroots football teams, bowlers, computer clubs and community gardening projects. 

If you would like to attend Time Out for Carers, the sessions run every Wednesday between 12pm- 3pm. You can reach Jean on 0161 727 8406 or Elizabeth on 0161 915 8965.  

Photo: Carol Williams, Jean Elliott, Elizabeth Royle and neighbourhood officer Scott Hardman.  

Police were called after a member of the public discovered the body of a man thought to be in his 30's on land situated just off Parrin Lane in Eccles on Friday (Feb 21st).

Police say that there are no suspicious circumstances associated with his death.

An investigation has now been launched and enquiries are on going.

A statement released by Greater Manchester Police said:

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"Police were called at 5am on Friday, February 21, 2020 to a report that the body of a man had been found on land off Parrin Lane, Eccles.

"Emergency services attended and sadly found the body of a man believed to be in his 30s.

"Enquiries are ongoing."

Police are appealing for the public's help in finding Nancy Smith who was last seen in Salford on 19th February 2020.

If anyone knows of her whereabouts then please call police on 101 with the reference number MSP/06FF/445/20

Salford’s pioneering Project Gulf, set up to tackle organised crime in the city, is to fund a new initiative – Jobs not Prison.

The project, which will be run by the Broughton Trust charity, will work with around 30 young adults a year who have challenging behaviour and/or criminal records.

The Trust has already found local employers willing to take part and a full time, dedicated worker will provide support to those involved.

Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety, said Project Gulf, which has been copied nationwide, was set up to deter re-offending as well as take down gangs and criminals.

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“People with criminal records can struggle to find work which leaves them vulnerable to being drawn back into a life of crime. This project is about offering them the chance to break that pattern by getting into work and helping them to stay there so they can turn their lives around.

“We’ve seen success with similar coaching and mentoring to deter young people from getting involved in crime and find a better way forward. Now it’s the turn of adults who have taken the wrong path.”

 

Project Gulf will contribute over £13,400 to Jobs not Prison while Greater Manchester Police, which will refer offenders to the project, will add an extra £5,000. Another £7,500 will be added by Project Challenger, the Greater Manchester wide initiative to tackle gangs and organised crime.

Graham Cooper, project manager with the Broughton Trust said:

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“The ethos of this is to give people who have made mistakes in the past the opportunity to gain employment without any of the barriers that normally affect people those who have been involved in the criminal justice system.

“This project seeks to remove these barriers and directly place them into a workplace that pays good wages. These opportunities can provide a future without looking over your shoulder. This is done in conjunction with employers who also believe in giving people a second chance.”

Detective Superintendent Chris Packer said: “This is a project which recognises the importance of ensuring that young adults, who may have had difficulty keeping out of trouble in the past, have an opportunity to have a true and proper stake in society that steers them away from future serious and organised crime.

“So far we have seen how Project Gulf has been able to incentivise those who have previously been vulnerable to being involved in crime and have now served their time.

“We appreciate the difficulty that those with criminal records can have when striving to get back into employment and therefore the support that this project offers has our unwavering commitment.

“These people are able to start working towards a safer and more prosperous life for themselves and their families, and as a force there is nothing that we desire more.”

 

Police are appealing for the public’s help to trace the next of kin of a man from Salford.

Saad Ismail Ali (27/05/1968), aged 51, passed away at his home address at Rock Bank, Lower Broughton Road, Salford on 20 February 2020.

There are believed to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Anyone with information about Saad’s next of kin should contact the Police Coroner’s Office in Bolton on 0161 856 4687.

It's hard to believe but today, 24th February is the tenth anniversary of the death of Joe Martin, a man who many of you may possibly not have heard off, but his legacy is all around us.

Joe was the last Conservation Officer for the City of Salford, sadly a position that has never been replaced by the Council, something I find shocking, surely Salford needs a Conservation Officer to keep an eye on listed buildings etc?

I first met Joe when I was working at SalfordOnline and was doing some research into the blue plaques and listed buildings in Salford, I contacted him and the very next day he sent across all the information I needed but also a huge list of information through the post. 

From then on I found Joe to be friendly, informative and a mine of information about Salford, a place he loved dearly and fought hard to improve and preserve.

We met again when the Salford Totem Pole which had stood outside the Manchester Liners office on Trafford Road, was rediscovered after years in storage, neglected and in need of some repair.

I followed the progress of the totem pole, from a lock up garage in Broughton until it was fully restored by Native American Indian carvers from Canada who came over specially to do the specialised work.

I have been told that totem pole will shortly be erected in a site in an appropriate place in Salford, you have to guess were.

The famous Monton Lighthouse may possibly not have been built if Joe hadn't seen the potential in allowing it to be built and helped the owner, Phil Austin through the minefield of paperwork that needed to be completed for the job.

To learn more about Joe and his life I met his brother Pete Martin  who  shared his memories with me.

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"Joe was the youngest of 12 children, we lived at 47 Broughton Road, Salford and attended St Albert's R.C. school then De La Salle.

"Joe was a bright lad and after leaving school, he got a job with Salford Council, in fact he worked with them for almost 40 years and was the longest serving member of staff.

"He didn't start as Conservation Officer but worked in many departments before securing that position, it was a job that was made for him, his love of the City and it's buildings were second to none and he helped save so many important buildings from demolition.

"It is good to see that the Council set up the Joe Martin Conservation Award which still runs and is awarded to companies who have helped beautify the City and preserve buildings at risk, he would have been very proud of this.

"He was also a talented artist and musician, we had a duo once called, "Me and our Kid" named because at our first gig at a social club on Langley Road, the compere asked who was on next, and that's what I said!"

 

So tonight Joe, I shall raise a glass to you memory, Salford lost a great man when we lost you and the City is poorer for your absence.

Joe's older brother, Anthony has written a delightful book about the family growing in Salford, full of amusing anecdotes about the family, with some lovely anecdotes in it.

It's called, "Tales of 47" and is available from Amazon priced £9.99 - ISBN# 9781773740539

https://amzn.to/2VlttJ4

GMP Traffic officers have been left bewildered after discovering three locked and secured cars left abandoned on random roads around Little Hulton.

The vehicles show no visible signs of damage and were left blocking carriageways and pavements around the area.

Two of the vehicles are Vauxhall Corsas and the other is a Ford Fiesta, so if you woke up missing one then you know where to look.

Our resident expert on Aliens 'Tony Flynn' has not ruled out Abduction.

If you have had an encounter with extra terrestrials then please find some handy links to sources which can help you get over the trauma. https://salford.media/gethelp

Photos: GMP Traffic

As we reported yesterday evening, shortly before 8.25pm on Saturday 23 February 2020, police were called to reports of a firearm being discharged at a vehicle on Weaste Lane in Salford.

Officers attended but the offenders had fled the scene prior to police arrival.

There have been no reported injuries.

Officers carried out a forensic investigation and have found evidence that shots had been fired on Willows Road, a cordon was put in place whilst enquiries were carried out at the scene.

A police cordon remains in place this morning with the bottom end of Weaste Lane closed completely, drivers are being told to seek alternative routes.

Police say that so far no arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

Patrols in the area were stepped up over-night.

Anyone with any information should call police on 0161 856 4592 or 101 quoting incident number 2943 of 22/02/2020, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

A section of Weaste Lane towards the junction with Liverpool Street has been cordoned off by police this evening after residents reported hearing a number of loud bangs in the vicinity.

A cordon is also in place on Willows Road and police forensics officers are reportedly at the scene.

A video posted to Twitter shows police vehicles blocking the opening to Weaste Lane at its junction with Liverpool Street.

We have approached Greater Manchester Police for further information and will update this post accordingly.

Incident in Salford, whole of Weaste Lane blocked off, won't let us out our gardens. @MENnewsdesk HMU ? pic.twitter.com/wtuGYRrocc

— Ben. (@BenGoods5) February 22, 2020

Video: @BenGoods5 (Twitter)

MancTraffic are reporting that the road is closed between Gore Avenue as far as Chandos Grove after what they are calling a serious incident.

Weaste Lane, Salford is CLOSED from Gore Ave to Chandos Grove due to a Serious Incident. pic.twitter.com/QP3SDvlozu

— MancTraffic (@manctraffic) February 22, 2020

Inset Photo: Andy P

Main Photo: Brendan Stewart

Police have launched an appeal for information after three police vans were vandalised in Salford as officers were conducting a knife sweep in Broughton.
 
At around 4pm yesterday (Friday 21 February 2020), three unoccupied police vans were criminally damaged on Heath Avenue, Salford whilst officers were out on patrol.
 
Officers returned from a successful knife sweep operation in which a number of offensive items were recovered to find that the vans had been vandalised.
 
No one was injured however two of the vans had smashed windscreens and two had damaged tyres.

 
No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.
 
Chief Inspector Ben Ewart of GMP’s Salford division said:

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“Our officers were out helping the community by doing great work removing knives from the streets only to come back and find that their vans had been vandalised.
 
“We have recovered the vans but they will have to be sent for repair before they are able to return to the roads as emergency vehicles.
 
“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and it will absolutely not be tolerated. Anyone with any information at all should contact police as soon as possible.
 
“Despite this incident you will continue to see patrols in and around the area as our officers carry out their positive work within the community.”

Anyone with any information should call police on 101, quoting incident number 1908 of 21/02/20. Reports can also be made anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
 

Detectives are appealing for more information after a firearms discharge in Salford.

At around 9pm on Wednesday 19 February 2020 police were called to reports of a firearms discharge on Murray Avenue in Salford. 

A shotgun was fired through the window of a property. The offenders fled the scene before police arrived.

There are no injuries. An investigation is underway.

No arrests have been made.

A cordon was in place but has since been lifted.

Inspector Rebecca Mills of GMP’s Salford District said:

Quote

 

“This was a targeted attack that occurred in a well-populated residential street so although this incident happened after dark we expect people will be able to assist our investigations.

“If you were in the area at the time of the incident and saw anything unusual or suspicious that that could help with our investigations please contact police.

“I would also like to reassure the community that we are doing all we can to protect residents on Murray Street and investigate the incident. You will see extra patrols across the area who will be working to find those responsible for this attack and prevent further incidents of crime in this area.

“If you have any CCTV footage that could help police in our search for more information please contact us as soon as possible.”

 

Anybody with information should contact police on 0161 856 5345, quoting incident number 2952 of 19/02/2020 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.