A portrayal of Salford as a crime-ravaged "hopeless dive" where people ignore the lockdown has been condemned by the City Mayor.
In a passionate riposte Paul Dennett has hit back at an article published in a national newspaper last week. The story was triggered by the city having the highest rates in the country for COVID-19.
It said Salford was "riddled with boarded up shops and houses", blighted by "horrific crime" and reported one resident as saying that that some people in the city treated lockdown "as a holiday".
The article which offended Mr Dennett was published three days after the Manchester Evening News did an in-depth assessment of the same issue, speaking to local people, and community leaders.