'Terrorised' Manchester shopping centre was commercial disaster patrolled by 'machine gun-toting teen'

A doomed shopping centre - said to have failed after as a result of gang intimidation and violence - lasted less than 20-years before bulldozers tore it down.

Archive newspaper stories tell of the rapid downfall of the now demolished Moss Side shopping centre. The shopping precinct was central to plans drawn up for the creation of the Moss Side District Centre in the late 1960s.

Moss Side District Centre was part of the largest redevelopment zone in Europe at the time, built to serve more than 60,000 people in Moss Side, Whalley Range, and Hulme.

It comprised of a state-of-the-art shopping centre, library, adult education centre and recreation complex including a sports centre with two swimming pools and three squash courts.

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Concrete maisonette blocks ranging from six to 13-storeys high were built to house the community surrounding the precinct. The residential cost of building the homes came to £2.5m while the commercial heart of the estate, including the shopping centre, exceeded £3m.

But, even before the shopping centre was completed, there were signs all was not well. The Manchester Evening News published several stories concerning the surrounding housing blocks being infested with bugs and mice.

The Guardian newspaper reported the problems were caused by the new building methods and their design providing "ideal conditions for insect and animal pests to thrive." Following protests from residents who had moved into the flats, which were then less than five years old, the council had to take action to clear the infestations.

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