Star date: 25th May 2017

ST ANN'S SQUARE FALLS SILENT THEN UNITED AND CITY ANNOUNCE £1MILLION DONATION

A jam-packed St Ann's Square fell quiet at 11am this morning, as a one minute silence was observed throughout Manchester, Salford and the world for the victims of the Manchester bomb attack.

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, led Manchester Council workers from Albert Square to St Ann's Square, to join many hundreds of people paying respect. Afterwards, it was announced that Manchester United and Manchester City had made a joint donation of £1million to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

Full details here...

Streams of people converged on St Ann's Square this morning, bearing flowers to add to the sea of floral tributes in memory of the victims of Monday's bomb attack on Manchester Arena...

...What they found when they got there was a complete media circus, with camera crews and presenters almost blocking the way to the tribute, while armed police circled the Square.

At around 10:45am, Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, together with Manchester Council leader, Richard Leese, led council workers from Albert Square to a packed St Ann's Square to take part in a one minute silence for the victims of the horrific attack.

It was observed impeccably, and broken at the end by spontaneous applause. Some people chanted 'Manchester...Manchester'; while others sang the Oasis song, Don't Look Back In Anger.

No-one seemed to want to leave the Square at the end. But slowly people went back to work, while others arrived to pay their respects, with more floral tributes and pink balloons.

Away from the Square, police, some armed, were everywhere, from outside Selfridges, where two machine gun toting officers very politely asked a drunk man to move on (see photo), to guarding the empty Embankment building in Salford, which was cordoned off. These scenes were not met with surprise by shoppers and workers. Unfortunately they're now becoming normal.

An hour after the minute silence, it was announced that both Manchester City and Manchester United had jointly donated £1million to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund for people affected by the Manchester Arena attack.

"This is a wonderful act of generosity and speaks directly to the mood of our city and all its people" said Andy Burnham and Richard Leese in a joint statement "It shows how in our darkest hour people are coming together and that Manchester is a city of true solidarity – truly a City United..."