BBC Radio Manchester

One of the highlights for BBC Radio Manchester has been boxer and reality TV star Tommy Fury joining presenter Joe McGrath towards the end of his efforts for the BBC Children in Need Thousand Mile Challenge.

Fury said he is being supported by his family, who are "big fans of Children in Need".

The boxer, who has a two-year-old daughter Bambi with fellow reality star Molly-Mae Hague, said he would love her to meet the charity's famous mascot Pudsey one day, "so we'll see if we can make the duo happen".

"People in my position and people with big platforms should be doing as much charity work as possible," he added. "If it's charity work I'll be there - any time, any place, anywhere.”

As he approached the finish line, Fury joked that he was "starting to break a sweat" on the challenge and did not have the energy for a "sprint finish".

• Tommy Fury joins Children in Need three-legged walk in Manchester - BBC News

Independent councillor Steve Jones said the display in Bryn is about "being proud of our country".

Earlier we spoke to Kyle Holmes, from Bolton, who is visiting Jamaica with his wife and young daughters, aged 7, 10, and 12, for a family wedding.

He said the windows and balconies of the hotel he was staying in - the Grand Palladium Resort, in the town of Lucea - had started to rattle and "everything was smashing against the building".

The hotel now looks like "a disaster zone" said Holmes, who added his family are now safe after the "worst experience ever".

He says he has barricaded the windows to the hotel room by placing all the furniture against them.

"We were supposed to be flying back tomorrow afternoon at 15:30," he told BBC Manchester radio.

"But the president of the airport has said it won't be open until Thursday.

Our reporter Dan Wareing has the full story here.

Eleanor Wills, who leads Labour-run Tameside Council, says some are "crossed" with their local MP.

Katherine Bainbridge
Senior journalist, BBC England

Before today's vigil got under way, a Jewish woman and a Catholic woman held hands as they visited St Anne's Catholic Church and lit candles in Crumpsall.

Esther Seymour, a Jewish woman, who went to the church with her friend Celeste Cavanagh, a Catholic, says seeing so many people of different faiths attend "warmed her heart".

Esther tells BBC Radio Manchester: "It feels like a lot of people are against Jewish people, and it just felt really nice coming here and seeing so many people of other faiths.

"I've seen Muslim people here which is so nice, I feel so bad for how they must be feeling as well, I really do, because we all want peace, we're cousins according to the religion.

"The majority of people want to be together, we want to be in peace, we want to live side by side."

Celeste adds: "We turn to faith when things like this happen, and I wanted to obviously meet Esther here to light candles and show that we are standing side by side.”

Two teenage victims give statements ahead of the sentencing of seven men in a grooming gang.

The junction at the border of Salford and Manchester has been the subject of safety concerns.

Image source, Thomas McDonagh

A former boxer who grew up training with Ricky Hatton says that "even as a 12, 13, 14-year-old, he was knocking everyone out".

Thomas McDonagh says he had looked up to the former world champion since they were children training at gyms in Greater Manchester.

"I'd known Ricky since I was about 10 or 11. As a kid he was an unbelievable fighter, he was a superstar."

McDonagh, who helps run Collyhurst and Moston Boxing Club, says Hatton was a "Manchester legend" who had helped fundraise for the venue in recent years and "came to all our amateur boxing shows".

"He came to the gym all the time, he'd just got time for everyone, he came over and sat down and talked to them," McDonagh told BBC Radio Manchester.

"He was down to earth and didn't change a tiny bit."

• You can read more about Thomas McDonagh's training with Hatton in our story

Her against-the-odds story and personality gave her a special status in Labour and put a target on her back.

The large heath butterfly, bog bush cricket and white-faced darter dragonfly thrive on peatlands.

Richard Tice denies that a Reform government would turn the NHS into an "American-style" system when asked by a caller on BBC Radio Manchester.

However, he says that if elected, Reform would tackle the "legendary" amount of "mismanagement and waste" in the NHS.

He adds: "Frontline doctors and nurses, who do a great job, constantly contact me despairing at the waste of money.

"The NHS is not short of money, it’s short of good management and high-class productivity."

The police watchdog is investigating after 26-year-old Ellis Rocks died in police custody in Wigan.

The Greater Manchester site is one of 10 specialist construction colleges in the UK.

The deputy prime minister says all options should be considered over plans to sell off the site.

Image source, Creative Camera Media

While farming is a family tradition for some, others come to it later in life.

Celia Gaze decided to start a business on her husband's farm after being signed off from work due to stress.

The Well Being Farm in Bolton is a passion project which saw her swap the office walls of the NHS for open fields... and llamas.

"One day I decided to put a bow tie on a llama and suddenly everyone wanted to come and visit the Well Being Farm," she said.

"We got countless bookings for weddings and people coming from far and wide to see them."

She has since dedicated different areas to regenerative farming, and hopes to inspire others to reflect on the trajectory of their lives.

• Listen to Celia's story on BBC Sounds

Cheshire Police name the woman found dead in the town last month as they ask the public for help.

An police watchdog investigation is launched after Ellis Rocks died in police custody in Wigan.

Mohammed Amaaz was seen attacking two female officers in footage shared widely on social media.

There have been recurring reports of illegal activity next to Sykes Reservoir, councillors say.

There is currently no direct link from the M54 to the M6 north, which puts pressure on local roads.