Leigh has been a Labour held constituency for almost a century. Jo Platt won the seat in 2017 with a 20% majority over her nearest competitor James Grundy of the Conservative Party.

Conservative Mary Robinson held the seat in the 2017 election but with only a slim 8.3% majority that the Liberal Democrat candidate will be looking to overturn come December.

Recalling the day that changed his world, he said: “Two years ago on my last day in Manchester I was an unfortunate victim of a machete attack and was slashed six times.

After recent figures showed knife crime has doubled across Greater Manchester over the last three years, GMP moved fast to remove more than 600 weapons from the streets last month.

Manchester produces more than 1.1 million tonnes of waste per year. According to World Waste Facts, it’s more than 2.1 billion tonnes worldwide and the amount of waste is increasing.

Although each borough does use its own colour scheme, the materials which can be recycled in each bin are consistent, except for Wigan.

Earlier this week Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham announced his plan to radically overhaul the current transport network in the city and replace it with a scheme called Our Network.

The number of racially-motivated hate crimes against children in Greater Manchester rose by a staggering 155% over the last three years.

The latest issue of the MM e-edition is packed with news, sport, features and entertainment.

People across Greater Manchester today headed for the voting stations to cast their ballot in an important round of council elections – MM reporters are at counts bringing you results as they are announced, with reaction and analysis.

The March issue of the MM e-edition is packed with news, features, entertainment and sport from across Greater Manchester…