Police step up appeal following now-fatal collision in Failsworth

Failsworth is the kind of place where neighbours still nod hello on the pavement, so when word spread that a 90-year-old woman had been hit by a reversing car on Albert Street West, the silence that followed felt heavier than any January frost. It happened in the middle of Wednesday afternoon, just after the school-run rush, when the street is usually alive with carrier bags and gossip. Instead, sirens took over.

She was rushed to hospital fighting for her life, but the injuries were too much and, by Tuesday, the family's vigil ended in the way every family dreads. A 37-year-old driver was arrested at the scene, questioned, and has now been bailed while officers piece together exactly how a routine manoeuvre turned deadly. That wait for answers is stretching like a tight wire along the terrace rows.

The Serious Collision Investigation Unit has parked its unmarked vans back on Albert Street West, knocking on doors and scanning dash-cams, hoping someone saw the car moments before it rolled backwards. They're not treating neighbours as witnesses in the abstract sense; they're asking us to remember which way the wheels were pointing, whether the engine sounded odd, if we noticed an elderly shopper stepping off the kerb. These tiny memories might be the difference between a family's closure...

If you were walking back from the Co-op, picking up a grandchild from St Mary's, or simply staring out of the window at the wrong moment, the police want your call. You can speak to a human on 101 or use the Live Chat if picking up the phone feels too formal. And if you'd rather not give your name, Crimestoppers will listen at 0800 555 111.