Manchester Arena Inquiry's second report into terror attack delayed until November

The release of the Manchester Arena Inquiry's second report has been delayed until early November. Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders' second dossier focusing on the response of the emergency services to the 2017 terror attack was expected later in the summer, but it has now been pushed back.

Bereaved families have been notified of the development, confirmed the inquiry's legal team. They blamed the delay on the sheer volume of correspondence involved and the scale of the report in total.

Parties warned they would be criticised in the report have also been given a chance to respond. In a statement today, the inquiry said: "As a result of the volume of correspondence - in particular the number of 'warnings of criticisms' and the very detailed responses - all of which must be considered; the publication of Volume Two of the Manchester Arena Inquiry report will now be in early November.

"The size of this report is substantial and both the Chairman and the team are confident that the revised date can be achieved. It remains the Chairman's intention to publish both the Volume Two and Three reports by the end of this year."

The third and final report, considering whether the security services and counter-terrorism police could, and should, have prevented the bombing, and the radicalisation of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, will follow.

Abedi, 22, detonated a device in a rucksack as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert at the venue on May 22, 2017. The attack claimed 22 lives - the youngest an eight-year-old girl, Saffie-Rose Roussos. Sixty-three people were seriously injured and 111 hospitalised.

The Arena atrocity was the deadliest terrorist attack in the UK since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005. There were 13 preliminary