Peel Land has submitted plans for the 30,000 square metre development, next to the existing Logistics North site and to the south east of junction 4, on the border between Bolton and Salford.

Peel said the land has been earmarked for employment opportunities suitable for logistics, manufacturing and supply chain businesses.

It could create more than 100 construction related jobs, 380 on site once the development is operational and a further 140 through the supply chain.

The site could, say Peel, potentially boost the town’s economy by over £20 million per year.

Bolton Council will rule on the application in the future.

A plan of the proposed site with the M61 junction at the top of the image.

Should it be approved, Peel said the scheme would ‘unlock new jobs across a range of skills and roles’.

It said the scheme will create over 100 construction related jobs, 380 on site once the development is operational and a further 140 through the supply chain.

A spokesperson for Peel Land said: “The scheme sits within the NorthFold growth corridor between Bolton and Wigan which has been identified by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as a key location for employment and economic growth.

“The junction 4 south east scheme is a significant opportunity to bring jobs and investment to the local area and help address a shortage of sites for economic development.”

The developer said the site is considered to be ‘grey belt’ under the Government’s 2024 policy, which was introduced to allow some green belt sites to be developed, to boost economic growth.

A new access road will be created onto the A6 Salford Road close to junction 4 of the M61.

The planning submission follows a pre-application public consultation with site neighbours and local councillors.

The submission follows a pre-application public consultation with site neighbours and local councillors with feedback being incorporated into the plans.

Bolton Council confirmed h that an Environmental Impact Assessment was not required for this submission. A decision is expected within 13 weeks.

For Tiger Woods, another arrest on charges of driving under the influence has put golf on hold.

There will be no chance of a return to the Masters next week. No Ryder Cup captaincy in 2027. Golf is being pushed to the side while Woods seeks treatment following his crash a week ago in Florida.

Authorities say Woods had pain pills in his pocket and showed signs of impairment following the crash — his fourth since 2009.

Here’s what to know about the events of the past week:

Shortly after the crash, body camera footage shows Woods telling a deputy, “I was just talking to the president.”

It wasn’t clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods. Trump said on the day of the golfer’s arrest that he considers Woods a close friend.

The White House did not say whether Trump spoke to Woods that day.

The footage released Thursday also shows that Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed. In a video from the back of a patrol car, he could be seen hiccupping, yawning and nodding off while handcuffed during the ride to jail.

Pleading not guilty after being released from jail

Woods was released from jail on bail hours after the crash and pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

He took a breath test that showed no signs of alcohol but declined to submit to a urine test, according to the sheriff’s office. His refusal can be prosecuted under Florida law. A legal expert told the AP that lab results aren’t needed to build a DUI case against Woods.

Stepping away from golf to seek treatment outside the U.S.

Woods announced in social media posts on Tuesday that he was putting golf on hold to “prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.”

A Florida judge approved his request to leave the country to seek treatment.

Woods’ attorney said the golfer would begin “comprehensive inpatient treatment” and that it needed to take place outside the U.S. to protect his privacy.

Missing the Masters for a second straight year

Woods has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open, but he remains one of golf’s most influential figures.

While it was unlikely he would be in shape for this year’s Masters before the crash, he said just days earlier that he had hopes of playing even though his body doesn’t recover like it once did.

Woods also won’t be joining Masters chairman Fred Ridley to celebrate the opening of a refurbished municipal course that involved Woods, or for the prestigious Masters Club dinner for champions.

On Wednesday, Woods formally turned down the Ryder Cup captaincy for 2027.

Ethan Towers, 27, and John Watson, 28, were described by a judge as “dangerous and a risk to the public” at Cambridge Crown Court before being jailed for life

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Two men have been sentenced to life imprisonment following the rape of a baby on five separate occasions last summer.

Ethan Towers, 27, and John Watson, 28, were branded “dangerous and a risk to the public” by a judge before receiving their sentences.

Cambridge Crown Court was told how Towers, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, carried out five rapes against the infant while Watson, from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, encouraged the abuse.

Judge Mark Bishop noted that the “youth of the baby was extreme”. Towers received a minimum term of 12 years and five months, while Watson was handed 13 years and four months on Wednesday (April 1).

The court heard that Towers had sent indecent images of children to Watson. Watson, who was already subject to a sexual harm prevention order due to previous convictions, had also exchanged explicit images with another child under the age of 16.

Towers pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, while Watson admitted two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The 28 year old further pleaded guilty to multiple offences relating to indecent images of children and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Alongside their life sentences, both men were issued with restraining orders and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228, reports the Express.

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The judge read aloud a victim statement from the infant’s mother in court, in which she described how the ordeal had left her feeling “more isolated and fearful than ever”. A victim impact statement from a child who had been contacted by both men via social media was also read aloud by the judge.

The young victim expressed feeling “set free” following the convictions of Towers and Watson.

The judge stated he was “satisfied” that both men were “dangerous and a risk to the public”. Cambridgeshire Police confirmed it had referred the matter to the relevant safeguarding authorities.

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will personally carry the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carries the cross to every station.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

Crowds are expected to gather outside of the Colosseum for the Way of the Cross, which commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

The meditations, which are read aloud at each station, were composed by the Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custos (or custodian) of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over Easter vigil rites at St. Peter’s Square and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city (of Rome) and the world.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for information after a moped was stolen from a York city centre car park earlier this week.

The theft took place from Esplanade Car Park in West Esplanade between 12:30pm and 7:30pm on Wednesday (April 1).

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The moped is a black Kymco Agility 50 with the registration number CE69 OYM; it was fitted with a black top box at the time of the theft.

“If you have any information regarding this theft or if you see or believe you have seen this vehicle since it was stolen, then we would like to hear from you,” said a spokesperson for the force.

If you have any information, you can contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101, send information through the online reporting tool, or you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote job reference number 12260058104 when providing information.

A planning statement was prepared by MacMarshalls which argued that the site opposite 686 Chorley Road – which lies on the green belt – can be classed as grey belt.

They said the land was previously owned by Lancashire Electric Company and used as a car park and recreational area for their social club.

It even included a putting green and cricket pavilion behind the car park.

They said the area is currently used for storage and parking, including the siting of containers, “which has taken place over a long period of time”.

On one side are some newly built bungalows and on the other, a small business park.

They said permission was sought to build three houses on the land back in 1991 – though refused, they said, “there are no further details on the council’s website”.

Permission in principle which means there are no final or detailed plans, but MacMarshalls included “an indicative layout” to show the homes “can comfortably be accommodated on site, at an appropriate density”.

These include three two-storey three-bed homes and three two-storey two-bed homes.

Site plan of where the houses will be located (Image: TS Archdesign)

MacMarshalls said the grey belt definition is in place “to protect high performing green belt land” while recognising that some sites “no longer adequately serve green belt purposes”.

These purposes are threefold – to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas, to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another and to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns.

MacMarshalls said the guidance “also states that villages should not be considered large built-up areas”.

Though the site is currently not built on, they said it “has been in use for storage, including the siting of two containers, and parking”.

They said there are “clear, physical features surrounding it that could contain and restrict development” and it is “not near or adjacent to a large built-up area”.

The homes would not be out of place either, they said, arguing the indicative layout “shows a layout similar to that of the relatively recently constructed bungalows”.

MacMarshalls said the site “is very modest in size” and “is a significant distance from any two towns” – and “is not within or adjacent to an historic town.

They said this means it qualifies as grey belt and residents will have until April 21 to respond to the consultation.

On Thursday (April 2), CEO Michael O’Leary urged those who are yet to book a trip abroad for the warmer months of the year, whether flying with Ryanair or other airlines, to do so “now”.

Speaking to ITV News Economics Editor Joel Hills, he “strongly” advised: “There’s no doubt that bookings for lots of people who would have planned to go to the Gulf or fly with Gulf carriers longer haul, are all now rebooking to go to Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, European spots.

“Accommodation prices are rising, air fares are rising into peak summer, I would book your summer holidays now, as quickly as you can”.

Update… pic.twitter.com/reCYMc0RLo

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) March 31, 2026

Ryanair boss warns of flight cancellations due to jet fuel prices

However, Michael also highlighted that if the Middle East war carries on over the next few months, a percentage of flights may be cancelled due the cost of jet fuel.

It comes as oil prices, which have a significant effect on the cost of wholesale fuel, have soared in response to Iran’s stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The RAC said the average price of a litre of diesel at UK forecourts on Wednesday (April 1) was 184.2p, up 29% since the war started on February 28.

Average petrol prices have reached 153.7p per litre, a rise of 16% over the same period.

In conversation with ITV ’s Joel, Michael explained that “we are all facing an unknown scenario” if the war continues into May or June, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for the “next 60 to 90 days”.

Your rights if your flight is cancelled or delayed

He continued: “We are certainly looking at maybe having to cancel 5%, 10% of flights through maybe May, June and July.

“The message from the airline industry is the sooner this war is over, the better, and the sooner we get oil supplies moving again, the better.”

Regarding which flights and routes that would “likely” be cancelled first if a difficult decision had to be made, Michael said: “Airlines won’t have that flexibility to choose routes, we have aircraft that are based at 95% of airports across Europe.

“We’ll have to cancel routes at whichever airport, where the fuel companies advise us, we are short of Jet A1 [fuel], say Malaga Airport or we’re short of Jet A1 at Athens Airport, it’ll be those kind of decisions.

“We’ll get very little notice, we’ll be told I think within five or seven days’ notice, so we will then, we’ll look around and we’ll be trying to ground one or two aircraft and minimise the inconvenience for customers.

“But it’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be challenging.”

What’s the best seat to book on a plane? 

UK airline cancels flights due to ‘huge rise in the global cost of fuel’

Michael’s aviation travel update comes shortly after UK airline Skybus has ceased all flights between Newquay Airport and London Gatwick from today (April 3) partly due to the “huge rise in the global cost of fuel”.

In a statement published by multiple news outlets, including ITV , Skybus managing director Jonathan Hinkles said: “The huge rise in the global cost of fuel following the conflict in the Gulf, coupled with a significant drop in new passenger bookings since mid-February’s announcement of the planned closure of the PSO air route, forms an insurmountable barrier to the service continuing through April and May.

“At a time of great economic uncertainty and steps being taken to conserve energy worldwide, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with vastly reduced passenger numbers.”

The last flight operated on Thursday (April 2) and all passengers who have had upcoming journeys cancelled will be refunded, according to the airline.

Newsquest has contacted Skybus for comment.

Are you worried about any upcoming flights being cancelled due to the current fuel concerns? Let us know in the comments below.

President Donald Trump reportedly demanded that his seat be moved at the Supreme Court so he could sit directly in front of the court’s justices during his unprecedented visit to the court to witness the oral arguments in his birthright citizenship case this week.

Trump became the first president to attend a Supreme Court oral argument, a move that many critics took to be a naked attempt to intimidate the court into ruling in his favor. Early in his second term, Trump issued an executive order challenging the 14th Amendment, which establishes that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told MSNOW that Trump was initially seated at the end of the first row of seats, but Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the court’s security that the president wanted to be moved to the center, where he would face the justices.

“Then it was clear that he was endeavoring to put his thumb on the scale,” Romero said. ““He was endeavoring to glower at the justices to kind of intimidate them, almost defy them to rule against him.”

Romero said that rather than appearing intimidating, Trump spent the hearing fidgeting in his chair. He said after ACLU Legal Director Cecilia Wang began making her opening arguments that the president “started getting restless” and that his “shoulders slumped a little bit.”

He said Trump left the courtroom approximately 10 or 15 minutes into Wang’s opening argument.

Romero said the court did fall quiet when Trump entered, but he added that his presence didn’t seem to throw the justices.

Trump was clearly not happy with what he saw during his time at the court.

“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” he raged on Truth Social after he left.

Trump complained about the Supreme Court again during a private Easter event with MAGA religious figures later the same day.

“Republicans, judges, and justices,” Trump said. “They always want to show that they’re independent.”

He continued: “‘I don’t care if Trump appointed me, I don’t care, if it doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m voting against him!” Trump complained.

He said people within the named groups defy him because “they want to show their independence, you know. Stupid people.”

Trump’s ranting continued on Thursday, when he called the Supreme Court a “KANGAROO COURT!!!” on Truth Social.

During the hearing, Justice John Roberts noted that Trump’s executive order focused on the citizenship of the parents rather than the citizenship of the individual born in the U.S. and said it would be extremely difficult to actually enforce Trump’s order.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, questioned the practicality of the president’s order.

“How would it work?” she asked. “How would you adjudicate these cases? You’re not going to know at the time of birth whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens, by the way.”

‘Britain is paying the price for a crisis it did not cause – this time in the Middle East – while a privileged few cash in’

Each global shock has become another excuse to squeeze the public

Britain is once again paying the price for a crisis it did not cause, while a privileged few cash in.

As war tensions grip the Middle East, energy giants are enjoying a grotesque windfall, their paper fortunes swelling by tens of millions. Meanwhile, ordinary families face soaring fuel, food and energy bills.

Drivers are being rinsed at the pumps. Households are bracing for yet another brutal hike. And all the while, those at the top shrug and call it “inescapable”.

It isn’t. It is a choice – a system that allows profiteering in the shadow of conflict. We’ve been here before. Each global shock becomes another excuse to squeeze the public while shareholders celebrate.

Ministers cannot sit on their hands. Windfall taxes must be tightened, loopholes closed, and excess profits clawed back. Because when war creates winners who are already wealthy, something has gone very wrong indeed.

Reform would drag Britain back to the bad old days

Business Secretary Peter Kyle is right, Reform UK would happily drag Britain back to the bad old days.

Their nostalgia for a supposed golden age ignores the grim reality: low pay, no protections and workers left on their own. That’s exactly what these new laws are designed to end.

From day-one sick pay to stronger parental rights, the Employment Rights Act is a long-overdue reset that puts fairness ahead of exploitation.

And plans to scrap zero-hours contracts and ban fire and rehire cannot come soon enough. Predictably, Reform and its allies are kicking up a fuss.

But progress always unsettles those who benefit from the status quo. The choice couldn’t be clearer: a modern, fair economy – or a backward slide to a Britain that failed working people.

World Cup ticket prices are pushing aside hard working supporters

FIFA isn’t just out of touch; it is exploiting fans’ devotion. Charging £8,333 for a World Cup final ticket is daylight robbery. Hardworking supporters are priced out and pushed aside.

This isn’t football’s global celebration anymore; it’s a corporate racket, lining pockets, and FIFA is killing the beautiful game.

The incident occurred around 1.40pm, resulting in the road being temporarily closed by police.

Police stated the crash resulted in no serious injuries but the cyclist was taken to hospital.

A GMP spokesperson said: “At around 1.40pm today, officers responded to reports of a collision between a car and a cyclist on Chorley New Road, Bolton.

“The cyclist was subsequently taken to hospital with non life-threatening or changing injuries.”

The incident occurred at the eastern tip of Chorley New Road, near the junction with Chorley Old Road.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the driver has been reported for ‘driving without due care’.

The cyclist was taken to hospital as a precaution and it is understood the expectation is that the injuries sustained are not serious.

The road has since fully reopened to drivers and pedestrians, and no delays are to be expected.