Residents in Levenshulme, Manchester, have reacted with fury after workmen destroyed a community garden they had spent five years creating out of a fly-tipped alleyway. The garden, kickstarted in 2021 by local designer Tom Marrett, had become an established green space with fruit trees, wild flowers and a grapevine, supporting wildlife such as hedgehogs and bats and hosting neighbourhood gatherings, before it was flattened without warning on Friday.

Workmen with strimmers were seen clearing a 30-metre stretch of the alleyway, though it remains unclear who ordered the work. Mr Marrett said around four households were closely involved in the project, with roughly 15 more residents helping occasionally, and the group had secured about £1,800 in council grants for plants, timber and tools, with at least £500 of plants destroyed. Manchester City Council colleagues Basat Sheikh and Zahid Hussain said the clearance "should never have happened" and have asked senior officers to investigate.