Summary

  • Latest updates on Friday 29 June

  1. Covid-19: Enhanced testing after 'alarming' risepublished at 09:15 British Summer Time 10 June 2021

    People living in parts of Cheshire are being urged to have a Covid-19 test after an "alarming" rise in cases in the area.

    A mobile test site in EnglandImage source, PA Media

    The increase in Crewe and Macclesfield is being largely driven by the so-called Indian variant, now named the Delta by the World Health Organization, Cheshire East Council said., external

    Every person over the age of 18 in the two towns are being asked by the authority to have a test, even if they do not have symptoms.

    Mobile testing units have been set up in Middlewich, Holmes Chapel and Wilmslow while the council highlighted local testing sites in Macclesfield and Crewe.

  2. T20 holders Notts tie at Worcesterpublished at 22:25 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Worcestershire hold Notts to a last-ball tie, after Liam Livingstone-inspired Lancashire win the first game of the 2021 T20 Blast.

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  3. Man charged over girl's road deathpublished at 16:25 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Ruby Cropper died two days after being hit by a car while crossing a road in Bury with a friend.

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  4. Driver filmed reaching 150mph on M6published at 15:49 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Nathan Batha was eventually brought to a halt with the help of a police stinger.

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  5. Boy, 15, charged with two terrorism offencespublished at 15:44 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    The teenager was arrested in Bootle and has appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

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  6. Driver who sped along motorway at 150mph is jailedpublished at 15:19 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Nathan Batha sped along the M6 in Cheshire at more than 150mph and through Warrington at 100mph.

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  7. Windermere to Carnforthpublished at 13:15 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Michael Portillo continues his journey through the Lake District where he discovers a magical world of talking rabbits, ducks, hedgehogs and mice, who have entertained children for more than 100 years. At the village home of author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, Michael learns about her legacy and her fears about the railways.

    Fuelled by a Victorian energy bar, Michael presses on to Brantwood, home of the Victorian art critic John Ruskin. He finishes with a brief encounter at Carnforth.

  8. Preston to Swintonpublished at 13:14 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Michael Portillo reads the riot act in Preston, where he discovers four mill workers were shot dead by soldiers at a protest in 1842. In Darwen, he makes a splash in pink as he traces developments in 19th-century interior design from wallpaper to paint.

    Michael explores the Victorian industrial landscape of Salford, populated by little matchstick figures, as revealed in the paintings of LS Lowry. Michael finishes this leg of his journey on Kersal Moor, where he twists his tongue around the Lancashire dialect and discovers the poetry of Edwin Waugh.

  9. St Helens to Knutsfordpublished at 13:13 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Steered by his Bradshaw's guide, Michael begins this leg of his journey in Merseyside, where he feels the heat of modern glassmaking in St Helens. He discovers how the techniques invented in the Victorian era to construct buildings such as the Crystal Palace have evolved and are powering a new architectural revolution.

  10. Ashley to Altonpublished at 13:12 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    On the last leg of his journey through north west England, Michael Portillo makes a clean sweep in Ashley, where, in Victorian times, the new middle classes set up home in suburban villas with multiple chimneys, swept by children.

    In Macclesfield, Michael finds the end of the Silk Route and tries his hand at screen printing. After stoking the fire on the steam-powered Churnet Valley Railway, Michael alights at Froghall for Alton Towers, to trace the 19th-century origins of the modern theme park.

  11. 'We're all raring to return to normal life'published at 12:46 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    People in the north-west of England welcome extra help to tackle a rise in the Delta variant.

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  12. Man charged over Arndale Centre knife attackpublished at 12:39 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Three people were stabbed at the Manchester shopping centre, prompting a large police response.

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  13. Testing and vaccine push in north-west Englandpublished at 12:19 British Summer Time 9 June 2021

    Extra support - including surge testing and vaccine buses - are provided to Covid hotspot areas.

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  14. North West to get extra help to fight Covidpublished at 17:39 British Summer Time 8 June 2021

    The measures include military support and in-school testing in areas hardest hit by the Delta variant.

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  15. Proposed splitting of city constituency condemnedpublished at 16:34 British Summer Time 8 June 2021

    A Labour MP and a Conservative chairman object to plans to carve up the City of Chester constituency.

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  16. Police domestic violence scheme 'dangerous'published at 16:28 British Summer Time 8 June 2021

    A woman criticises a new police scheme which allows domestic abusers to meet their victims.

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