David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, was suspended from the Labour party today.

He is one of three Labour MPs facing criminal charges over their expenses claims and the party has withdrawn the whip from all three.

A bird sanctuary has been forced to close after council bosses said it needed a ZOO licence.

Three Owls Bird Sanctuary in Norden, Rochdale, opened in 1962 but after complaints from an animal rights organisation, council officers found it was breaching zoo licensing legislation.

The M.E.N. today calls for an independent investigation into the crisis-hit Tameside General Hospital. Nicknamed Shameside, it has been at the centre of a catalogue of damning incidents.

A sick grandad is stranded in a Turkish hospital after being hit with a £20,000 bill that his travel insurance firm won’t pay.

James McHugo, 78, from Hulme, collapsed at the airport after he arrived at Antalya for a holiday.

Police bosses have been slammed for spending £100,000 on ‘storytelling sessions’ for 200 top cops – as hundreds of beat bobbies face the axe.

Greater Manchester Police was branded the ‘Ministry for Silly Ideas’ after news of the primary school-style bonding events emerged.

They are proof that true love CAN be found on a double-decker.

After a bus company appealed for public transport lovebirds to come forward in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, M.E.N columnist Andrew Grimes scoffed at the idea of romance being found among the screwed up tickets.

A woman has been given a suspended jail sentence after she admitted fraudulently claiming more than £32,000 benefits.

Nicola Finch, 31, failed to disclose she was working while claiming the cash for four years.

A driver who fled an angry mob after an accident that killed a young boy has been cleared of blame.

He was confronted by up to 10 furious onlookers as neighbours fought to save three-year-old Harley Huetson on Hackle Street, Clayton.

A man who stabbed a stranger in the chest, narrowly missing his heart, has been jailed.

Paul Johnstone, 28, had stopped his victim in the street to ask for a cigarette.

Campaigners held a tea party in the shadow of Manchester Airport to protest against plans to pull down historic cottages and replace them with a cargo unit.

Up to 80 people gathered for tea and cake on Hasty Lane, where two family homes are to be demolished and a 300-year-old pond destroyed.

A school so unpopular it struggled to fill all its places is now having to turn students away after a dramatic turnaround.

Parents steered clear of St Thomas Aquinas School, in Chorlton, because of its bad reputation.

A teenage girl killed herself after arguing with her mum over £5, an inquest heard.

Grace Travis’ mother Wendy had refused to give her the cash because the 17-year-old wanted to buy cannabis with it.

A cancer patient has told how taking part in Christie trials for a new drug has changed his life.

Brian Mineards, 69, from Congleton, was diagnosed with prostate and bone cancer in 2002 after complaining about pain in his spine and legs.

One of Manchester’s train stations has become so run down it is a bad advertisement for rail travel, according to a report.

Public transport watchdog TravelWatch Northwest says Oxford Road station is in a ‘decrepit, cruddy and unmaintained’ condition.

A soldier from Manchester left severely injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan has been thanked for his efforts on the frontline by princes William and Harry.

Sergeant Paul Barrett, 35, from Manchester, lost a leg when he was caught in a bomb blast in 2008.

Only three members of the public have responded to a consultation over a £20m revamp of St Peter’s Square and Central Library.

Plans were announced last year but after the council sent out information and consultation documents to businesses and residents it was surprised to get just six responses.

A pensioner was battered with a truncheon in his own home by conmen posing as police officers.

The 73-year-old man was left with soreness in his arms following the attack in Osborne Street, Bredbury. The two tricksters ransacked the man's house and fled with cash.

The right-wing English Defence League said it took the decision because a Hindu religious festival is due to be held there on the same day, March 6.

It also claimed to have received information that 'far-left groups were planning to attack Hindus whilst dressed in EDL clothing'.

A woman police officer who died from cancer two days after being attacked by her estranged husband has helped convict him from beyond the grave.

Mum-of-four Vijay Singh, 37, was in bed when Wlati Singh, 39, burst in and punched her in the head and chest. Singh was convicted of assault after a statement made by Vijay was read to Manchester magistrates court. He could now face jail.

Two convicted rapists are among 15 sex offenders that have gone missing from Greater Manchester.

Attif Hussain, 35, and Mamod Korbani, 32, vanished after they were released on licence.

A taxi driver got more than he bargained for when his passenger went into labour in his cab.

Colin Gilmore helped deliver the baby in the back of his Skoda Octavia during the morning rush hour. He and the woman’s partner were coached through the birth by an ambulance service operator.

An accounts sheet which poignantly documents the lost talent of the Busby Babes is revealed today – 52 years to the day after the Munich tragedy.

The annual pay ledger submitted by Manchester United to the Football League in 1958 lists the wages of every player registered to the club. But an ink line runs through the records of eight players and a note indicates their employment ended on 6th February 1958.

A major new drama charting the early life of Boy George is to be filmed in Manchester.

The team behind the BBC production of Worried About the Boy will start shooting at locations across the city from tomorrow for a month.

A man was taken to hospital for treatment to a head injury after being assaulted outside a Wigan beer festival.

The victim, a 24-year-old man, was assaulted outside the festival at Formby Hall, Alder Street, Atherton.

These are the ‘stolen’ holiday memories that police want to reunite with their owners. The snaps show holidaymakers at a series of exotic locations.

Detectives are searching for the people in the pictures – thought to include newlyweds on honeymoon – after several cameras were allegedly stolen from luggage at Manchester and Liverpool airports.