The Mancunian Way: Hours from opening... then it all went wrong

Hello

Birthday plans left in ruins, hundreds of pounds wasted on train tickets and fans left 'gutted'. Tonight was supposed to be the night the £365m Co-Op Live arena opened to great fanfare with a showpiece gig by Peter Kay.

But just hours away from opening, it all went wrong with the news the 23,5000 capacity venue wasn’t going to be ready in time. Clare Donovan, from London, was among the fans left in the lurch. She had bought six tickets for the show for her mum's 70th birthday but now the family are now hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

"I had to call my mum just a few hours ago and she was really upset,” she said. “Me and my brother, wife and friend were also travelling up as a surprise, so three lots of people have spent money on trains, hotels and have booked time off work," she told the Manchester Evening News.

“We have lost a day's holiday and there is no chance we can go next week. My parents are in Manchester at the moment and due to stay for two nights; it's so disappointing when you plan to make your mum's birthday special to have it ruined and get this at such late notice."

Work on the venue, the largest in the UK, is still not complete. The council’s building control department has not signed it off and emergency services have concerns.

But it’s understood on the ground warnings have been made for weeks, if not months, that the arena was not going to be ready in time. In a special report Neal Keeling, Joseph Timan and Stephen Topping tell the inside story of how the countdown to 'showtime' dramatically stalled.

‘An idiotic moment’

He pledged to ‘tackle anti-social behaviour’. But now a candidate in next week’s local elections has issued an apology after videos emerged of him scratching a man’s car in a road rage confrontation.

Mark Bailey, who is standing for Farnworth and Kearsley First party in Bolton, was given a police caution and ordered to pay £2,300 to repair the damage after ‘keying’ the car on several occasions in late 2022.

In a statement he said his actions were ‘an idiotic moment’ and that he ‘wholeheartedly regrets and sincerely apologises’ for his lapse. Video clips from a doorbell camera of Mr Bailey allegedly scratching the vehicle have emerged on various social media sites since his nomination for election was confirmed earlier this month. Chris Gee has more here

Cabbo dead

One of Manchester’s most notorious gangsters has died in prison, it has been confirmed. Lee 'Cabbo' Amos, was jailed for life in 2009 for the drive-by killing of 24-year-old Tyrone Gilbert.

Amos was a leading member of the notorious Gooch Gang, which terrorised Manchester in the noughties. He died yesterday at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire aged 48. An investigation is now underway.

After Amos, his partner in crime Colin "Piggy" Joyce and several other Gooch members were jailed, it was reported shootings fell by 92 per cent. More here

‘Help us save a Manchester institution’

The Britons Protection is stepping up its fight with Heineken. The city centre pub is to hold a 'peaceful public rally' to raise awareness of its legal battle with the brewing giant.

Bosses at the pub will be holding a demonstration outside the Heineken Brewery on May 1 to 'draw attention' to its upcoming court case with the brewer, while urging the company to 're-think' plans for the historic boozer. Organisers have said they will man the line from 10am to show the 'big brewery what the heart of a small pub can accomplish'.

As we’ve reported previously, a court hearing in June could determine if the current tenants can still run the pub - and determine what drinks it will stock. Landlord Allan Hudd fears Heineken want to change the Britons into a more 'generic' pub and strip it of the character that has made it one of the city’s most-loved watering holes. Jenna Campbell has more here…

Who you gonna call?

If, like me, you spent countless hours playing video games in the 80s and 90s, the nostalgia that hits when you first step into Bury’s Arcade Club is palpable. OutRun, Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off Road, Streets of Rage - it’s a treasure trove of 32 bit memories.

And the arcade, said to be the biggest in Europe, has recently played a key part in the newly released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie. Two of its machines - Star Castle and Missile Command - feature in it after film bosses requested them for their set.

They were chosen specifically to add a touch of 80s authenticity to the movie, which stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace.

Daniel Butt, brand manager at Arcade Club, said: "It was specifically these two games they wanted because they were the two games that were in the original films at the fire station HQ of the Ghostbusters. We were approached by the film company who were surprised we had a working copy of Star Castle as it's a pretty rare machine." Read more

Weather etc

Wednesday: Sunny changing to cloudy by lunchtime, 13C.

Roadworks: Church Street in Eccles is closed westbound due to gas main work from Barton Lane to Peel Street until April 29.

Manchester headlines

Jailed: A Chester Zoo worker has been jailed after he stole more than £180,000 from his former employer to fund his gambling addiction. Daniel Remmington worked in a 'trusted' position as a bookkeeper for an auction firm but instead helped himself to huge sums of cash over the course of more than a year, a court heard. The money was used to 'clear his overdraft' or 'went straight over the counter or into betting terminals at William Hill', a judge said. More here

Vape warning: Police have issued another warning about young children being sold illegal vapes laced with 'unknown substances' in Greater Manchester. Parents have been warned about a number of reports of children being sold illicit e-cigarettes in shops and being offered them from cars. Greater Manchester Police said the vapes can be 'easily mistaken' for other items, such as highlighter pens. Read more

Gun arrest: Police have made an arrest after a 'man with a gun' in Wigan turned himself in. Armed officers descended on Billinge, Wigan, at around 2.30pm on Monday following reports of a suspect with a firearm near two primary schools.

Worth a read

They’re now one of Manchester’s most popular bands, but Courteeners frontman Liam Fray has spoken about how in the early days he felt ‘everyone hated us’ in their home city. Fray was talking about the formative years of the Middleton band at an exclusive album playback of their debut album St Jude at Yes bar. Dianne Bourne has more here