‘If I hear the wheelie bins moving, I’ll know it’s them’

Welcome to Unmissable, our weekly digest of stories we think you might have missed.

Kathleen Beckett, like a lot of Prestwich residents, is pretty chilled about the Parklife crowds.

Despite that the 74-year-old has a plan: “The only thing is when they want to go to the toilet, they come into my back yard.

“I’ve got my grandson’s caravan at the back and they will be hiding behind there. I’m going to put the wheelie bins there [to stop them] – if I hear them moving it, I’ll know it’s them.”

Welcome to Unmissable, our weekly digest of the stories we think you might have missed.

Unless you’ve been living under a particularly large rock somewhere you’ll have noticed there are a few events at Heaton Park this summer.

First there’s the annual chaos of Parklife, followed next month by a small get-together hosted by a couple of squabbling brothers from Burnage.

We set reporter Stephen Topping the challenge of finding out what all this means for the people who live surrounding Heaton Park over a bumper summer of entertainment.

His piece is well worth a look.

‘What happens to the Heaton Park cows during Parklife’ sounds a bit like a question on an A-level Philosophy course, but we took it very seriously. Apparently council bosses have taken expert advice and this year there’s no need to move the bovine inhabitants.

The Facebook comments were a treat on this with some suggesting the cows get noise cancelling earplugs, while others made unfortunate references to burger vans.

Anyway we solved the mystery and you can read all about it here.

Aside from the fun and frivolity of Parklife and Oasis we published a very serious investigation this weekend into how a convicted paedophile has been allowed to live directly opposite a playground. We’ll be following this up in the coming weeks.

We also published the two latest instalments in our investigation series about fake online shops along with Damon Wilkinson’s wonderful interview with Desmond Flanagan who spent almost 10 years working at Lewis’s during the 1960s heyday of department stores.

Anyway, if you’re heading to Parklife this weekend please enjoy yourself, but if you find yourself needing the toilet try to avoid Kathleen’s garden would you?

Remember the wheelie bins are always watching.

‘It’s not fair it’s happening here – why’s it not in an arena?’

Parklife and five Oasis concerts will bring plenty of disruption for Prestwich residents around Heaton Park – and opinions on the events are divided. Stephen Topping went out to take the temperature ahead of the huge summer events. Read it HERE.

He was jailed for 13 years for sexually abusing two girls, now he’s living next to a kids’ playground

EXCLUSIVE: Todros Grynhaus was jailed for 13 years in 2015 after a campaign of sexual abuse against two teenage girls – now he’s living just yards from a playground. Read it HERE.

‘I could kick myself for falling for it’: The online scam stores leaving shoppers trapped and out of pocket

In an unjust and unethical practice, shoppers are being stitched up by China-based fashion websites branded a ‘complete scam’. James Holt investigates. Read it HERE.

What happens to the Heaton Park cows during Parklife and Oasis?

Council bosses have spoken to an expert. Read it HERE.

Gondolas, grottoes and meeting the PM – What it was like to work at Lewis’s during the golden age of department stores

Desmond Flanagan spent almost 10 years working at Lewis’s during the 1960s heyday of department stores. Here he remembers his time on the shop floor. Read it HERE.