The 'absolutely chaotic' Christmas Day dinner at a restaurant, the suburb where residents are scared to leave their homes and the tributes paid to a tragic dad who was struggling with the loss of a baby.
Here are the most read stories from our website today.
"I felt safer at war in Afghanistan": The Manchester suburb where residents are too scared to leave their homes
Families and shopkeepers living in a north Manchester suburb have been left terrified to leave their homes after a spate of violence.
One former soldier described Blackley as a 'warzone and said he 'felt safer' while fighting in Afghanistan.
The lifelong local admitted he was "too scared to walk to the local shop at night" over fears of being attacked.
Parents believe the area - six miles from Manchester city centre - has become "overrun" by teenagers armed with weapons.
A shopkeeper, who asked not to be named over fears he would be targeted, described how he i s stolen from "at least two to three times a week".
Read the full story here.
"People were walking out left right and centre": Family hits out after 'absolutely chaotic' Christmas Day restaurant dinner
A family has told how they walked out of one of Manchester's oldest restaurants on Christmas Day after waiting almost an hour and a half to be served.
Paul Millar and his family claim they paid £276 upfront for a five course Christmas menu at Don Giovanni.
But after 40 minutes waiting just to be seated and another 40 minutes without being served the family say they walked out of the Peter Street restaurant and demanded a refund.
Restaurant bosses have hit back, saying the accusations are 'incorrect and false' and many customers left 'extremely happy'.
But Paul said the restaurant, which opened in 1984, was 'absolute chaos' and said several other families also walked out in the time they were there.
Read our story here.
'He will be missed forever': Tributes pour in for dad, 30, who died after struggling with tragic loss of baby
A young dad who was struggling with the loss of his baby son has died after being hit by a car on the M602.
Tributes have poured in for Benjamin Connor, 30, who sadly passed away in hospital after the collision on Tuesday morning.
The dad from Manchester was said to have been grieving for his baby boy, who tragically died in 2014 when he was just a few days old.
Mr Connor leaves behind other children.
Police received reports of a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle on the Manchester-bound carriageway of the M602 motorway shortly after 2.30am on Tuesday morning.
The full story and tribute is here.
Manchester's lost 'showground of the world' that became a best-loved tourist attraction
Fascinating images unearthed from our archive capture exciting scenes from one of Manchester’s biggest tourist attraction of the past.
Taken from our archives, Mirrorpix, the earliest images was taken in the 1940s and show wowed visitors, exotic animals, roller-coasters and circus entertainers at Belle Vue.
Opened in 1836, Belle Vue zoo started life as a small private collection of birds owned by gardener John Jennison - but his vision for a vast Victorian amusement park soon saw it blossom into much more – Manchester’s very own theme park.
Generations of thrill seekers poured through its gates not just for the animals, but for the theme park’s legendary funfair rides and circus shows. Many will also remember its concert venue.
The full story and more pictures are here.
Woman furious over her 'pink' raw turkey left red-faced as she's told she ordered gammon
A fuming customer messaged her local butcher to complain about her Christmas Day turkey being 'pink' and raw - only to discover she'd made quite the mistake as it was actually a GAMMON joint.
Royton butchers NL Woodcock posted the hilarious message exchange on their company Facebook page with the "disappointed" customer, who eventually saw the funny side when she realised the error she'd made.
And the post also made plenty of others chuckle - swiftly racking up the likes, comments and shares.
Butcher Neil Woodcock shared the messages from Boxing Day, with the customer known only as Zoe saying: "Sorry Zoe but we thought it was funny".
The full festive tale is all here.
