Work starts on Tommyfield Park in Oldham town centre

Builders moved onto the old Tommyfield Market site this week and began turning five acres of worn paving into a town-centre park.

The market, which traded here for more than two centuries, has already shifted to new stalls inside The Spindles, freeing the land for grass, trees and benches.

Casey, the contractor appointed by Oldham Council, is working to a plan that keeps the space fed by rainwater and solar power, so the finished park should cost little to run.

Council leader Arooj Shah says the diggers mark the moment when a piece of local history becomes somewhere to sit, meet and breathe amid the shops.

No completion date has been given, but residents can watch a fly-through of the design on the council website while the fences stay up.