The regional epidemic

ROCHDALE is not alone.

Across Greater Manchester as a whole more than one in three pubs have closed this century.

Both Bolton and Tameside lost 41 per cent of their pubs over that period. Even Manchester, with its booming city centre and affluent suburbs such as Chorlton and Didsbury, saw a seven per cent fall in the number of pubs and bars, with several high-profile closures this month alone, such as Walrus, The Blue Pig and Tusk in the Northern Quarter shutting up after their owner went into liquidation.