The Covid situation in Oldham isn't as bleak as some reports would suggest, bosses insist as they highlight positive case figures

Oldham. The Metrolink line was blocked between Westwood and Oldham Mumps due to a road traffic collision at around 7.50am this morning (Tuesday).

Oldham Council outlined the full changes new owners hope to make to breathe life back into the former pub.

Land Registry.

direct to your inbox The parents of a teenager stabbed to death in Oldham five and a half years ago have told how they're still struggling to come to terms with their son's tragic death. Tommy Bilton, 19, died after being stabbed in the groin when violence broke out outside a house party on the Eldon Street estate in August 2015.

direct to your inboxThree men with long criminal records have been jailed following a 'frightening' street attack on an alleged drug dealer.Their victim left an address in Oldham at 5pm on Sunday August 23 last year when he received a text from an unknown number.Police later analysed the phone and found messages about the supply of cannabis in the days beforehand, a court was told.A VW Golf on false plates pulled up, three men got out and their target got into the car and was taken to an address

direct to your inboxDisabled people have been waiting so long to get a dedicated parking bay in Oldham they may be ‘dead or no longer be able to drive’, according to a councillor.Coun Howard Sykes, who leads the Liberal Democrat opposition group, says that some people in the borough have had to wait ‘almost three years’ for a parking space.He raised the issue with the council on behalf of one of his constituents in Shaw and said he found the answers ‘disturbing’.Coun Sykes said that 80 people

direct to your inboxA further 11 people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.The region's coronavirus hospital death toll has now reached 5,202, the latest NHS figures show.Nine new deaths were confirmed by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.The trust's figures include those of North Manchester General, the Royal Oldham, Fairfield General and Rochdale Infirmary.Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Salford Royal recorded one new Covid death

direct to your inboxA mum who has been given the keys to a ‘state-of-the-art’ new council home in Oldham said it has ‘given her family a whole new world’.Oldham council has bought 19 eco-friendly, five-bedroom properties in Primrose Bank to provide affordable family accommodation in the borough.Mum-of-four Louise is one of the first residents to move into the development, and more families will be moving into seven of the homes in the coming weeks.The remaining 12 houses are due to be handed

Trafford was home to six of the most expensive homes sold in the region last year – the priciest being a £4.6m detached property.  At the other end of the scale, many of the cheapest homes in Greater Manchester were sold in Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan last year.The cheapest sold in Farnworth, Bolton for £24,838 in July. Last year, the threshold for Stamp Duty in England was raised to £500,000, with equivalent taxes in Wales and Scotland raised to a threshold of £250,000. The tax holiday

direct to your inboxPolice are investigating whether a 'suspicious item' which sparked a bomb scare in Oldham, was in fact a tracking device. Officers taped off a large section of Arkwright Street in Chadderton shortly after 1.30pm on Thursday afternoon.

direct to your inboxA pensioner has been taken to hospital following a crash at a junction in Oldham.The man in his 70s was taken to hospital by ambulance following a collision with a car on Middleton Road, in Royton, on Thursday morning (February 4).The air ambulance landed but the man was taken to hospital by road.He suffered minor injuries, the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said.The road was closed for a time following the collision, which happened just before 9.30am at the junction

direct to your inboxMore than 17,000 children and young people in Oldham will be offered support to stop them going hungry during February half term.The council has agreed to fund food vouchers worth £15.They can be used at supermarkets and will be available for children who are eligible for free school meals; families on low incomes with pre-school children aged up to five; and for care leavers under 25-years-old.Young people at Oldham College and Oldham Sixth Form who receive means-tested free

direct to your inboxA further 34 people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.The region's hospital death toll has risen to 5,086 the latest NHS figures show.Fifteen new deaths were recorded by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust in its 24 hour data.Seven Covid-related deaths were confirmed by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust .

direct to your inboxShe fell in the line of duty.PC Alison Armitage paid the ultimate price for being what then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, described as "some one who engaged in often difficult and dangerous work".The 29-year-old officer had been deployed undercover in Oldham when she was mowed down and killed by a criminal in a stolen car.She was reversed over in a derelict car park in Hollinwood on March 5th 2001 by Thomas Whaley, then 19, as he tried to escape in a stolen Vauxhall.He was

direct to your inboxCouncillors and an MP are opposing plans for a huge £150 million waste-to-energy plant in Oldham that would be as tall as ’12 double-decker buses’.Proposals are expected to be submitted ‘any day now’ to the planning department for a new energy recovery facility on Mossdown Road in Royton.The incinerator, which would deal with non-recyclable commercial waste, would transform the energy from burning rubbish into electricity for the national grid.A similar plan was proposed in

direct to your inbox An inquest has opened into the death a motorcyclist who died in a crash while driving home from work in Oldham. Wayne Heath tragically lost his life after his Yamaha motorbike collided with a Vauxhall Isignia on Ashton Road.

direct to your inbox A headteacher has threatened to withdraw pupils from a school in Oldham after children told teachers they had been visiting people outside of their households.

direct to your inbox‘Treat your mask like your underwear’ say health chiefs as they urge people to keep washing and changing face coverings to protect from coronavirus.A GP and public health professional in Oldham have both re-emphasised the importance of continuing to wear masks and face coverings throughout the pandemic.The latest scientific evidence suggests that Covid-19 is being spread by both droplets and aerosols – moisture particles from a person which are spread in the air by breathing,

direct to your inboxPolice investigating a drive-by shooting in Newton Heath have arrested another two men.A gunman opened fire as three high-powered cars raced through the suburb in the middle of the day on Tuesday (January 19).A car not involved in the fracas was hit with a stray bullet.A detective has described the incident as “shockingly dangerous and reckless”.Following a series of raids across addresses in Manchester and Oldham, a 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted