The amazing £60m outdoor surf park planned near the Trafford Centre

Boxing Day sales will be going ahead as normal in Manchester this year, with many shops opening as usual on what is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days. Unless there are any last-minute changes to the region's coronavirus restrictions, non-essential shops will still be able to trade.

straight to your inbox every day for freeWhen Diego Llorente signed for Leeds United this summer it wasn’t a transfer that attracted much attention outside of West Yorkshire, but it turns out other clubs could have been missing a trick.The 27-year-old joined Leeds for a fee of £18million from Real Sociedad but has had a slow start to his Elland Road career, playing just once so far as he battles injury.But according to a new analytical tool that aims to take the risk out of the transfer market

direct to your inboxThugs shouted 'Manchester Manchester' at horrified onlookers after battering a man in a shop doorway in Liverpool city centre. Mobile phone footage shows two men kicking and punching the man on Basnett Street in front of Christmas shoppers on Sunday, the Liverpool Echo reports.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester and Lancashire are staying in Tier 3 restrictions after a review of Covid rules across England.Matt Hancock announced in the House of Commons on Thursday morning that Bristol and North Somerset were coming out of Tier 3 into Tier 2 - but that every other part of England currently in Tier 3 was staying there.  He also announced a list of areas that would be moved up into Tier 3 including Surrey, Berkshire and Peterborough.

straight to your inbox every day for freeOle Gunnar Solskjaer believes the potential return of fans to Old Trafford could have an instant impact on Manchester United's home form.United have won just one of their six home games in the Premier League this season, whereas their form on the road has been scintillating so far.

direct to your inboxPolice took to social media to call out the 'worst parking in 2020' after a car was found on a grass verge near the Trafford Centre.The black Vauxhall had come off the road and onto a grass area on Old Park Lane in Trafford Park.It appeared to be damaged, with the front bumper hanging off.Officers said the driver of the car had no insurance, and the vehicle was seized.Get the latest updates from across Greater Manchester direct to your inbox with the free MEN newsletterYou

direct to your inboxAn office ‘campus’ on a much-loved green space in Manchester city centre; hundreds more offices elsewhere; new flats; and a new hotel have been recommended for approval.The major developments mainly focused in and around the city centre will be considered by Manchester council’s planning committee at its final meeting of the year next week.Some schemes - such as plans to build offices and a public park on what is known as ‘New Islington Green’ - have attracted fierce public

direct to your inboxThe police helicopter was deployed overnight as part of the hunt for a burglary suspect found hiding in a garden it can be confirmed. Residents across south Manchester and Trafford reported being woken by the force chopper hovering around the area at around 3:30am in the early hours of this morning (Thursday).

direct to your inboxWork has began to build Mayfield Park - the first in Manchester for 100 years, the M.E.N can reveal.Construction is now underway at the 6.5 acre site behind Piccadilly station that has been an industrial wasteland for decades.For years, regeneration plans for the forgotten corner of the city centre have failed to get off the ground.But the breakthrough finally came with the formation of a joint public-private venture in 2016 comprising of Manchester City Council, Transport

direct to your inboxTrafford council’s vote on Greater Manchester’s development and employment masterplan has been dropped. Following neighbouring borough Stockport voting down the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework masterplan last week, Trafford council has decided ‘there is no point’ discussing the matter at its full meeting tomorrow night.

straight to your inbox every day for freeHere are your Manchester United evening headlines for Monday, December 7. Paul Pogba’s United career is “over," according to his agent Mino Raiola.

direct to your inboxFashion boss Seema Malhotra is fighting back after lockdown by launching her first ever dedicated store.Seema, the owner of the Manchester-based online fashion brand Forever Unique, has opened the shop in the Trafford Centre.Determined Seema, one of the stars of the hit ITVBe reality series The Real Housewives of Cheshire, believes there's now light at the end of the tunnel for retail and Manchester - the 'fashion city' - where her brand was founded."Who could have predicted

with some calling the decision a ‘disgrace’.But speaking at the council’s public engagement board this morning Eleanor Roaf, Trafford’s Director for Public Health, said: “I know there’s been a lot of disappointment in some quarters about the fact that we’re still in tier 3, but I think that even though our rates are lower than some other places that are not in tier 3, we do have to recognise that we’re part of Greater Manchester.“People travel in and out of our borough all the time, for work in

“Covid just isn’t impacting us here like it is with students at other places, and because of that we are still getting the hands-on experience that we were promised.“In terms of getting a job, I feel like we will probably be in work as a result of this – and that wouldn’t be the case if we had enrolled at another university.”Those interested in applying to study at Hopwood Hall College and University Centre are welcomed to 'stay near and go far' and to drop into its Virtual Open Event for Higher

Have your say in our survey below. If it does not load click here. When making the announcement, health secretary Matt Hancock said that the measures are necessary given the "scale of the threat" faced by the UK.He also said the tiers will be reviewed in a fortnight and kept "regularly under review after that".The government also published rationales for each area's tier decision.For Greater Manchester, the rationale stated: "While there has been continued improvement in Greater Manchester,

straight to your inbox every day for freeManchester United have accepted the government's decision to place Greater Manchester in the Tier 3 category of regional COVID-19 restrictions.Regions in Tier 3 are listed as 'very high alert' and means United cannot welcome up to 4,000 supporters back inside Old Trafford for next week's Champions League visit of Paris Saint-Germain.Fans could be present for United's trip to West Ham next weekend - which is yet to be assigned a kick-off time and date -

straight to your inbox every day for freeManchester United legend Paddy Crerand would tell the younger members of the squad that there's nothing quite like Old Trafford on a big European night. Norman Whiteside had heard all of those stories before.