Two Greater Manchester towns named best places to buy your first home

Across the country there are hundreds of quaint chocolate box villages and historic market towns full of character. These destinations draw visitors from far and wide with cosy tea rooms, welcoming pubs and beautiful green spaces.

Five towns in Greater Manchester are being promised £20m over the next decade to help regenerate their high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Controversial cuts proposed at two fire stations in Greater Manchester have been scrapped, with plans to increase cover in the city centre set to go ahead. Plans to stop manning Sale and Offerton stations at night were proposed as part of a review by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS).

More than 100 people are objecting to plans to erect dozens of of ‘ugly’ 15m poles carrying a new aerial broadband network across Oldham. IX Wireless has applied to the council for 29 poles to be installed in various locations around the borough. But they have been met by a furious backlash from residents who argue they’re not needed and will ‘ruin the appearance’ of neighbourhoods.

More than 170 homes could be built at a Stockport quarry. An application from Stewart Milne Homes sets out a plan to build 172 houses in the Offerton area of Stockport.

Plans for a new network of ‘air-fibre’ poles that carry high speed broadband across Oldham have been unveiled. IX Wireless has applied to the council for 29 poles to be installed, each 15 metres in height, in various locations across the borough.

Libraries across Greater Manchester will be participating in Black History Month by hosting events celebrating black female pioneers who made history.

It was the reckless incident against a town centre business which has left people divided. For several years, Tameside residents have spoken of concerns about safety in the outdoor market square area of Ashton town centre.

The first 175 buses entering Greater Manchester's Bee Network under franchising can be revealed today.

The first corner of Oldham’s brand new town centre park has been given the green light by councillors.

Two Mancunian restaurants have been named in the top five spots to get a Sunday Roast in the UK.

A doctor who raped a woman and threatened her with scissors has been struck off. Vibhor Garg, who was living in Wigan, threatened to release a video of the attack.

An extra 900 young people in Stockport will receive a free lunchtime meal over the school year thanks to a new initiative.

All of the following businesses have paid to feature in this listicle: Soughton Hall, Hilltop Country House , Cheshire Woodland Weddings, Sparth House, The Saddleworth Hotel, Didsbury House, and Edgar Wood Victoria Park.

A milkshake combining strawberries, Nutella spread, Oreos, marshmallows and white chocolate shavings might sound extravagant, perhaps even a little indulgent, but at a dessert parlour in Rochdale, literally anything goes.

A stunning tower in North Wales is giving people the chance to live out their Disney princess dreams. Brynkir Tower is nestled inside Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park in Llanfihangel-y-pennant, just over a two-hour drive from Greater Manchester, and it’s the sort of place you could imagine Rapunzel unravelling her long hair.

House hunters looking for a property full of character world away from a city centre apartment or new build are best searching around the outskirts of Greater Manchester. In the region's rural villages in the boroughs of Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside you can often find homes with an array of traditional features as well as stunning countryside views.

A threatening email which sparked lockdowns at schools across the the north west was sent to six schools in Greater Manchester, police have said. Manchester High School for Girls, Manchester Grammar and Withington Girls School were among those to receive an email which 'made threats to pupils and staff', the Manchester Evening News understands.

A spike in 'excess deaths' in Stockport could be down to the government's handling of NHS strikes, a councillor has suggested.

Police officers and social workers raised fears that more than 500 children from Oldham were being sexually abused last year - the highest in nearly a decade - a Manchester Evening News and Local Democracy Reporting Service investigation has found.