Greater Manchester chef shows how he made three weeks worth of 'school meals' for just £20 - with recipes and shopping list

direct to your inboxBosses at the Greater Manchester Mental NHS Foundation Trust have been ordered to improve the quality of patient care at a psychiatric ward after inspectors raised 'significant concerns'.Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) made an unannounced visit to Park House at North Manchester General Hospital in December.Concerns had been raised about the safety of patients and leadership on Elm Ward - a 24 bedded female acute ward in Park House.Inspectors said they had

Radcliffe has been approved by the government.The proposal for the new facility - submitted by Star Academies and backed by Bury council - is one of four new free schools to have been given the green light across Greater Manchester.A further ten of the region's schools are set be rebuilt as part of a £1 billion scheme to boost education.The town has been without a high school since Radcliffe Riverside shut in 2014, meaning hundreds of youngsters have been forced to attend schools in other areas

interactive map shows the number of positive Covid test results in each neighbourhood across the country. It uses Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester’s hospitals have almost run out of intensive care beds at points over the last couple of weeks, the region’s health lead has revealed, as the system has hit its peak of the third wave.Sir Richard Leese said that at times, critical care occupancy had come ‘very close to the absolute number of beds we’ve currently got available’.In the last week there has been a dip in admissions, however, and the third wave is now believed to have peaked within the NHS here

direct to your inboxAround 70pc of Covid-19 cases in Tameside are believed to be caused by the new more contagious strain of the virus.Health chiefs say that the new variant of coronavirus, which was first detected in Kent, is now ‘dominant’ in the borough and across much of Greater Manchester.Speaking at a meeting of the health and wellbeing board, director of public health Jeanelle de Gruchy said they needed to be ‘really vigilant’ against the new strain.“We’re seeing high numbers of outbreaks

direct to your inboxA weather warning remains in place for Greater Manchester this morning as many parts of the region wake up to snow.After temperatures plummeted to below freezing overnight, many areas have reported a dusting of snow in the early hours.Local forecasters say this has been followed by freezing fog, widespread ice and a harsh frost.And people travelling this morning are being urged to take care on the roads.The Met Office yellow warning for ice which came into effect overnight

direct to your inboxThe coronavirus infection rate has fallen below 400 in every borough in Greater Manchester for the first time since New Year's Day.Across the region the number of infections continues to fall, the latest Public Health England figures show.Manchester remains the worst-affected borough in the region.But in the week up to January 20, its rate dropped 14% to 397.1 cases per 100,000 people.It means for the first time since January 1, all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester have an

direct to your inboxA further 17 people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.It means the region's hospital death toll now stands at 4,791.In the last 24 hours 10 more deaths were recorded at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.Fore more people died at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and three more fatalities were reported at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.The total number of coronavirus deaths at hospital trusts

direct to your inboxWigan's MP has defended her decision to label new US president Joe Biden a 'woke guy'.Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, praised the attitude of America's incoming leader in an interview on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show this morning.She was asked why she referred to him as 'woke' - a term which is sometimes used to describe politicians with liberal social views but can be used by critics to suggest a person is overly sensitive to social issues.Mrs Nandy said Mr Biden's

direct to your inbox People were locked up for a wide range of  criminal offences    over the past week, with M.E.N. reporters there to cover the most serious cases.

direct to your inboxThe freezing conditions are set to continue for the next few days with overnight temperatures in Greater Manchester forecast to plunge below zero.Frosts are expected on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Saturday morning a weather warning was put in place after snowstorms hit the region.

Wigan is now emerging as a property hotspot.

direct to your inboxInfection rates are continuing to fall across every Greater Manchester borough.Each of the region’s ten boroughs are below England's average of 452.5 per 100,000 people in the week ending January 18.Only the city of Manchester has a rate above 400 and Oldham - which once had the highest rates in the country - is now sitting at 282.6 cases per 100,000 people for the same time period.Here in Greater Manchester, the borough of Trafford had the biggest drop in cases in the seven

direct to your inboxThe Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is to open emergency Covid beds for adults in a sign of the unprecedented pressure facing Greater Manchester’s hospitals.Sir Richard Leese, the region’s health chief, said the situation in the system was now ‘critical’ as NHS bosses have scrambled to discharge as many people as possible ahead of a sustained peak over the coming three weeks.Crisis meetings have been held to determine the ability to scale up beds, as Salford Royal and

direct to your inboxThe NHS has sadly confirmed the deaths of 29 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for Covid-19.The region's hospital death toll now stands at 4,757.NHS bosses said on Friday a further 993 people who tested positive for the virus have died in hospitals across England.It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 65,104.In the north west, a further 94 hospital deaths were reported, the NHS said on Friday.A

direct to your inboxThe last 24 hours has seen multiple deluges of rain, inches of snow, roads and homes collapsing, and a slew of serious car crashes as the region was 'just centimetres' away from disaster. In the wake of Storm Christoph hitting Greater Manchester, the city's Fire and Rescue Service chief has spoken out about a day, night and further day filled with drama.

Bolton is currently the only borough in Greater Manchester where cases of the virus are still on the rise.

direct to your inboxAndy Burnham has promised a 'new era' at Greater Manchester Police after the force was placed in 'special measures'.The mayor held his first policing press conference yesterday since former Chief Constable Ian Hopkins was asked to step down in the wake of a scathing inspection report.

direct to your inbox“I’m a stallion, baby,” drag queen Veronica Green declares as she graciously sits on a white horse in the trailer for the second series of BBC Three’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.The latest series of the hit show finally reached our screens on Thursday evening (January 14) following a number of production halts due to the coronavirus pandemic.

direct to your inboxA flood 'alert' has been put in force in Greater Manchester today after hours of heavy rainfall overnight.The alert warns of 'possible' flooding around the area of the middle River Mersey catchment area.It includes areas near Bramhall in Stockport, Sale, Altrincham and Urmston.The Environment Agency warned: "Flooding is possible - be prepared."And Transport for Greater Manchester said: "With heavy rain in Greater Manchester this morning, expect flooding in some areas.