Live updates from Greater Manchester have finished for the day, but we'll be back from 08:00 on Friday with the latest news, sport, weather and travel from across the region.
Weather: Rain in some parts
Rain and hill snow in the south at first this morning, though a brighter start further north with some early morning sunshine likely here.
Video content
Video caption: Dry at first this evening, but rain possible later in the night. Highs ofDry at first this evening, but rain possible later in the night. Highs of
Turning drier for all through the day, allowing sunny spells for most during the afternoon. Windy.
Police 'rationing' puts public at risk, warns watchdog
The former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, said that forces will have to do things differently in the future, if the government continues to ask them "to do more with less".
iStockCopyright: iStock
He was speaking following
a warning from the police standards watchdog
that some police forces are putting the public at risk by rationing their response as they struggle with cutbacks.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said some forces are "downgrading" 999 calls, in order to justify responding to them more slowly.
BBCCopyright: BBC
HMIC's
report
found that most of the 43 forces in England and Wales were providing a good service. But that others have let victims down.
Greater Manchester Police was rated good and was found to be the fifth best force in terms of performance in cases involving domestic violence cases.
Community divided over school plans
The community in Saddleworth is divided after a plan to build a controversial new secondary school was blocked by the High court.
A judge ruled the planning permission for the site in Diggle was "unlawful" on heritage grounds and said the council should not have dismissed the option of rebuilding it on its existing site in Uppermill.
Some residents said it would ruin the village while others think a new school is desperately needed.
Latest headlines for Greater Manchester and east Cheshire
Manchester City council is earning more than £6,000 a day in fines from just three cameras monitoring bus lanes in the city centre,
new figures show
Video caption: Super League Rewind: Wigan edge St Helens in a floodlit mudbathSuper League Rewind: Wigan edge St Helens in a floodlit mudbath
Super League Show Rewind looks back on a time when a waterlogged pitch made no difference to the game going ahead.
Envelope update
Severe disruption: M60 Greater Manchester clockwise
BBC News Travel
M60 Greater Manchester clockwise severe disruption, between J16 for A666 and J17 for A56 Prestwich.
M60 Greater Manchester - M60 partially blocked clockwise between J16, A666 (Pendlebury) and J17, A56 (Prestwich), because of a broken down vehicle. Traffic is coping well.
To report traffic and travel incidents dial 0330 123 0184 at any time
Greater Manchester Police are investigating after a number of children turned up at a Cheadle Hulme school high on
'Teddy Bear' ecstasy.
Bury school bans 'JoJo bows'
Some UK schools, including Fairfield Community Primary School in Bury, are banning pupils from wearing "JoJo bows", giant hair clips that have gained popularity thanks to a teenage dancing YouTube star. So
why have the bows become so big
?
Headteacher at Fairfield Community Primary in Bury, Chris Ashley, describes the bows as "distracting".
Several schools say the bows breach uniform policy. Sawley Junior School in Nottinghamshire has also banned them.
New Diggle secondary school plans quashed
Kevin Fitzpatrick
BBC Radio Manchester journalist
A plan to build a new secondary school in Diggle in Saddleworth has been blocked after a High Court judge ruled the planning permission was "unlawful" on heritage grounds.
The case was brought by Diggle resident Keith Lucas, who objected to the plan to move the school from Uppermill village and build it on the site of a historic mill.
The council had insisted rebuilding it on its existing site was not an option, but the judge said the planning committee should have been allowed to consider it.
He said moving the school to Diggle "would cause substantial damage to heritage assets".
The planning permission was quashed. The council says its "top priority has always been to deliver a fit-for-purpose educational facility and it will now consider it's next steps.
Fears have become a reality for residents of a Scholes block of flats
after the roof caved in
.
Envelope update
Severe disruption: M61 Greater Manchester southbound
BBC News Travel
M61 Greater Manchester southbound severe disruption, at J5 for A58.
M61 Greater Manchester - M61 lane closed on exit slip road southbound at J5, A58 (Westhoughton), because of a broken down vehicle. Traffic is coping well.
To report traffic and travel incidents dial 0330 123 0184 at any time
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst statue designs go on display
The six shortlisted designs for a statue of the Manchester suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst will be unveiled in the city later today.
PACopyright: PA
They were displayed for the first time at Westminster earlier this week.
A total of 16 of the 17 public statues in Manchester are men.
There was a public vote to choose a woman to be depicted by a new statue. Emmeline Pankhurst's great grandaughter will help choose the winning design.
St John's development set to be approved
Plans for two 36-storey towers, close to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, are set to be approved next week.
Granada TVCopyright: Granada TV
Developers want to build the apartment blocks, as part of the St Johns neighbourhood, on the site of the former Granada TV studios.
The scheme includes offices and restaurants, as well as plans for another skyscraper - which will be as tall as the Beetham Tower.
Latest headlines for Greater Manchester and east Cheshire
A plan to build a controversial new secondary school in Diggle in Saddleworth is blocked after a High Court judge ruled the planning permission was "unlawful" on heritage grounds
New figures show
Manchester City Council is earning more than £6,000 a day in fines from just three cameras monitoring bus lanes in the city centre
Warrington is one of 11 places to have now put their names forward to
become UK City of Culture
in 2021
Jilted boyfriend shook hands with love-rival before stabbing him to death with a potato knife, court told
A jilted boyfriend shook hands with his love rival before fatally stabbing him,
a court heard
.
Man City's amputee football star
Jamie lost his leg to bone cancer when he was 13 but he now plays amputee football for Manchester City.
Video content
Video caption: Jamie lost his leg to bone cancer - he now plays amputee football for Manchester CityJamie lost his leg to bone cancer - he now plays amputee football for Manchester City
Snow on the hills
BBC Weather Watcher Mags in Moorside, Oldham shared this photo of snow on the hills.
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Get involved
Our live coverage across the day
Live updates from Greater Manchester have finished for the day, but we'll be back from 08:00 on Friday with the latest news, sport, weather and travel from across the region.
Weather: Rain in some parts
Rain and hill snow in the south at first this morning, though a brighter start further north with some early morning sunshine likely here.
Video content
Turning drier for all through the day, allowing sunny spells for most during the afternoon. Windy.
Lows of 5C.
More from BBC Weather .
Police 'rationing' puts public at risk, warns watchdog
The former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, said that forces will have to do things differently in the future, if the government continues to ask them "to do more with less".
He was speaking following a warning from the police standards watchdog that some police forces are putting the public at risk by rationing their response as they struggle with cutbacks.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said some forces are "downgrading" 999 calls, in order to justify responding to them more slowly.
HMIC's report found that most of the 43 forces in England and Wales were providing a good service. But that others have let victims down.
Greater Manchester Police was rated good and was found to be the fifth best force in terms of performance in cases involving domestic violence cases.
Community divided over school plans
The community in Saddleworth is divided after a plan to build a controversial new secondary school was blocked by the High court.
A judge ruled the planning permission for the site in Diggle was "unlawful" on heritage grounds and said the council should not have dismissed the option of rebuilding it on its existing site in Uppermill.
Some residents said it would ruin the village while others think a new school is desperately needed.
Latest headlines for Greater Manchester and east Cheshire
Mud, mud, glorious mud
Video content
Super League Show Rewind looks back on a time when a waterlogged pitch made no difference to the game going ahead.
Envelope update
Severe disruption: M60 Greater Manchester clockwise
M60 Greater Manchester clockwise severe disruption, between J16 for A666 and J17 for A56 Prestwich.
M60 Greater Manchester - M60 partially blocked clockwise between J16, A666 (Pendlebury) and J17, A56 (Prestwich), because of a broken down vehicle. Traffic is coping well.
To report traffic and travel incidents dial 0330 123 0184 at any time
Children high on 'Teddy Bear ecstasy' at school
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Greater Manchester Police are investigating after a number of children turned up at a Cheadle Hulme school high on 'Teddy Bear' ecstasy.
Bury school bans 'JoJo bows'
Some UK schools, including Fairfield Community Primary School in Bury, are banning pupils from wearing "JoJo bows", giant hair clips that have gained popularity thanks to a teenage dancing YouTube star. So why have the bows become so big ?
Video content
Headteacher at Fairfield Community Primary in Bury, Chris Ashley, describes the bows as "distracting".
Several schools say the bows breach uniform policy. Sawley Junior School in Nottinghamshire has also banned them.
New Diggle secondary school plans quashed
Kevin Fitzpatrick
BBC Radio Manchester journalist
A plan to build a new secondary school in Diggle in Saddleworth has been blocked after a High Court judge ruled the planning permission was "unlawful" on heritage grounds.
The case was brought by Diggle resident Keith Lucas, who objected to the plan to move the school from Uppermill village and build it on the site of a historic mill.
The council had insisted rebuilding it on its existing site was not an option, but the judge said the planning committee should have been allowed to consider it.
He said moving the school to Diggle "would cause substantial damage to heritage assets".
The planning permission was quashed. The council says its "top priority has always been to deliver a fit-for-purpose educational facility and it will now consider it's next steps.
City not spoken about future - Aguero
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero says the club are yet to speak to him about where his future lies.
Read moreUnconfirmed sightings of missing boy, 15, in Bury and Manchester
There have been two unconfirmed sightings in Greater Manchester of a 15-year-old boy who has been reported missing from Carnforth.
Kyson Kanesh, originally from Blackpool, was last seen on 21 February after leaving an address in Lancaster Road in the early hours of the morning.
The teenager was reportedly seen in Bury and Manchester Piccadilly Station on the day he went missing.
He is about 5ft 7ins, of slim build and was last seen wearing a black jacket, a grey tracksuit and a dark grey beanie hat.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them.
Roof caves in at Wigan flats
Wigan Today
Fears have become a reality for residents of a Scholes block of flats after the roof caved in .
Envelope update
Severe disruption: M61 Greater Manchester southbound
M61 Greater Manchester southbound severe disruption, at J5 for A58.
M61 Greater Manchester - M61 lane closed on exit slip road southbound at J5, A58 (Westhoughton), because of a broken down vehicle. Traffic is coping well.
To report traffic and travel incidents dial 0330 123 0184 at any time
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst statue designs go on display
The six shortlisted designs for a statue of the Manchester suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst will be unveiled in the city later today.
They were displayed for the first time at Westminster earlier this week.
A total of 16 of the 17 public statues in Manchester are men.
There was a public vote to choose a woman to be depicted by a new statue. Emmeline Pankhurst's great grandaughter will help choose the winning design.
St John's development set to be approved
Plans for two 36-storey towers, close to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, are set to be approved next week.
Developers want to build the apartment blocks, as part of the St Johns neighbourhood, on the site of the former Granada TV studios.
The scheme includes offices and restaurants, as well as plans for another skyscraper - which will be as tall as the Beetham Tower.
Latest headlines for Greater Manchester and east Cheshire
Jilted boyfriend shook hands with love-rival before stabbing him to death with a potato knife, court told
Manchester Evening News
A jilted boyfriend shook hands with his love rival before fatally stabbing him, a court heard .
Man City's amputee football star
Jamie lost his leg to bone cancer when he was 13 but he now plays amputee football for Manchester City.
Video content
Snow on the hills
BBC Weather Watcher Mags in Moorside, Oldham shared this photo of snow on the hills.
You can send photos via email , Facebook or Twitter.