Hundreds of babies and toddlers with serious breathing problems PLUS Oasis fans lose £2m in ticket frauds
Hello,
There’s an epidemic of serious lung problems in Greater Manchester – and our children are the worst affected.
That’s according to a group of mums who are trying to get local politicians like Andy Burnham to take urgent action to get air pollution under legal levels.
They’ve discovered that the number of children, toddlers and babies admitted to Manchester hospitals with breathing problems has soared by hundreds
Nearly 8,500 children were admitted to the specialist paediatric respiratory services within Manchester University Foundation NHS Trust, or seen as outpatients, over the last two years.
And the number of under-18s attending hospitals has gone up by 520 in 12 months.
Babies and toddlers are particularly affected, as you can see from this graphic.
Manchester was instructed by the government to become compliant with air pollution laws by 2024. But instead, campaigners say ‘the Mayor scrapped the planned Clean Air Zone in December 2023’.
Clean Air Greater Manchester says the latest data suggests pollution levels are dropping.
But with more than 468,000 diesel cars and vans on Manchester’s roads in 2023, Liz Godfrey, who runs Mums for Lungs, doubts if a non-charging clean air zone will work.
“All the evidence – from illegal levels of pollution to children struggling to breathe in our hospitals – shows that it lacks ambition and won’t go nearly far enough to succeed in cutting illegal levels of pollution.”
Alba De Toro Nozal believes her son Elliot’ viral-induced wheezing was made worse by pollution in south Manchester.
“I walk with Elliot everywhere and had him in a sling. We’d walk on busy roads where there are lots of car fumes that he was exposed to in the area we live,” she says.
The mum-of-two says Elliot – now seven – couldn’t breathe easily as a baby, even with inhalers. She estimates he was taken to A&E up to seven times as he fought for breath, being admitted on four occasions.
“He’d be very pale and sometimes wouldn’t be able to finish two words because he was so short of breath.”
You can read more details from health reporter Helena Vesty here.
Don’t look back in anger
Thousands of Oasis fans have lost an estimated £2 million to ticket fraudsters since the band announced their comeback.
One person lost £1,700 when trying to obtain tickets for the reunion tour – which will see the band performing for five nights at Manchester’s Heaton Park in July.
The comeback has been blighted by reports of widespread ticket fraud with Oasis fans accounting for 56 per cent of all concert ticket scams reported to Lloyds Banking Group so far this year.
(Image: Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images)
They say the average fan caught out by Oasis ticket scams lost £436 with those aged 35 to 44 most likely to be targeted.
More than 1,000 cases have been reported to the bank since the tickets initially went on sale last summer. But Lloyds estimate that there have been at least 5,000 victims.
Fans are being targeted by unofficial groups set up on social media, dedicated to buying and selling tickets for the Oasis tour. The scams see people tricked into sending money via bank transfer when the scammer has no tickets to provide.
Fake adverts, posts and listings offering tickets at discounted prices have also been spotted online.
“The fact that so many cases start with fake listings on social media, often in violation of the platforms’ own rules, underscores the importance of these companies taking stronger action to tackle scams,” says Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds.
‘Into the lions’ pit’
(Image: Denton Park Social Bowling Club)
In recent years, Denton’s Victoria Park has become a hotspot for arsonists and anti-social behaviour.
The picture above shows the park’s famous Grade-II listed bandstand, built in the early 1900s, ablaze after being set alight in 2020. Locals say groups of fire-obsessed kids had been causing chaos in the park for years.
But police say it’s a ‘true success story’ of neighbourhood policing. After ramping up patrols they say it’s now ‘a much nicer place to come and visit’.
In fact Greater Manchester Police are so confident of a turnaround that they used the site to announce the force would be getting 176 new frontline officers.
But reporter Chris Slater has been out to talk to locals who say they have recently seen trees being torched – meaning they still avoid the park.
One lady told our roving reporter: “It gives you the feeling ‘do I want to go into the lions’ pit.’ That’s what it feels like. It feels menacing. I try and avoid it.”
You can read more about the area here.
‘Andrew Gwynne… in the bin’
That was the chant doing the rounds when protesters gathered calling for the Denton MP’s resignation.
The ex-Labour MP was involved in the ‘Trigger Me Timbers’ WhatsApp group – in which he was accused of making anti-Semitic, sexist and racist remarks. He and several other councillors and politicians involved were subsequently suspended by the Labour Party.
Protesters gathered at Jubilee Square in Denton calling on MP Andrew Gwynne to resign(Image: LDRS)
But as George Lythgoe reports, those suspensions don’t go far enough for some.
Around a hundred people gathered at Jubilee Square this week, just metres from Mr Gwynne’s office with banners.
Organiser Jane Whittaker said: “The community getting together like this just shows exactly what people think. People want to vote, and they want to vote them out.”
Mr Gwynne previously apologised for his ‘badly misjudged comments’.
You can read George’s full report here.
Praying on churches
(Image: Our Lady Of Hope Parish)
A slew of arson attacks, a bag snatch and the theft of a 7kg Easter egg – they’re among the hundreds of crimes facing Greater Manchester churches each year.
Some 642 crimes were recorded at churches in the region between 2022 and 2024, according to the Countryside Alliance.
That figure includes 334 thefts, 212 cases of criminal damage and 95 cases of violence.
It makes our conurbation the third worst-affected area in the country, with only West Yorkshire and Kent being hit harder.
Jo Timan has the full story here.
Dentistry deserts
Patients living in Greater Manchester’s ‘dentistry deserts’ are still being denied NHS treatment six months after a Labour promise to ‘rebuild’ the way treatment is delivered.
The latest analysis of the 347 practices in Greater Manchester on the NHS’s ‘find a dentist’ website reveals 62 per cent of NHS dentists in Trafford are not accepting adult patients, compared to just 29 per cent in Wigan.
Weather
Friday: Sunny intervals changing to cloudy by lunchtime. 16C.
Roads: A572 St Helens Road southbound, Leigh, closed due to roadworks from A578 Twist Lane to Bonnywell Road until June 30.
Worth a read
Stamford Park paddling pool in Tameside. C 1960s.(Image: Tameside Local Studies and Archives)
These images of a long-lost children’s oasis have sparked memories of blissful summers in a Greater Manchester park.
Stamford Park on the border of Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge dates back to the Victorian era. In the following decades, the park expanded to encompass a reservoir, which became a boating and fishing lake.
However, one of the park’s former features – the original Stamford Park paddling pool and fountain – was once a huge attraction for children and families during the summer months.
Lee Grimsditch has been taking a look back here.