Manchester Arena attack: Families 'disgusted' by memorial trespassing

Families of people killed in the Manchester Arena attack have said they were "disgusted" after a memorial site for the 22 victims was trespassed on.

The Glade of Light memorial in the city centre remains a building site and does not officially open until the new year.

Two bereaved families said they were appalled to find the security fences pulled down on Sunday.

Hundreds of people were injured when Salman Abedi detonated a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

After being contacted by the BBC about the trespassing, Manchester City Council said it had sent a security team to the site to keep it safe until it can be investigated on Monday.

Caroline Curry, from South Shields, whose 19-year-old son Liam was killed in the bombing, told the BBC she was "disgusted" by the trespassers.

Ms Curry said she found hundreds of people were walking through the area, which is supposed to be closed to the public.

She said one man stood on a memorial stone and was abusive when challenged, another woman vomited all over the area, and groups of youths were openly smoking drugs.

Claire Brewster, from Sheffield, lost her sister Kelly, 32, and was herself seriously injured.

She said she was "devastated" to arrive in Manchester on Sunday night to see people moving the fences to walk through the memorial.

Ms Curry and Ms Brewster spent hours at the site, trying to guard the memorial on their own.

No security guards were present and no-one from the council appeared.

Later on Sunday, Manchester City Council said it had sent a security team to "assess what's happening" and keep the memorial safe overnight.

Councillor Pat Karney, the council's city centre lead, said the council would be investigating "as a matter of urgency" what happened to the memorial, as well as what is needed to "keep the site secure."

He said there was "no excuse for the kind of behaviour in and around the memorial site witnessed by the bereaved relatives" on Sunday.

"The whole area is covered by CCTV and if footage shows it was due to the deliberate actions of mindless thugs, rather than a problem with the fencing itself, we will pass this information on to the police," he added.

"We utterly condemn this mindless and disrespectful behaviour and will not hesitate to take action against those involved."

The council has previously said the memorial, which is situated alongside Manchester Cathedral and is due to open to the public in January, is designed to be "a tranquil garden space for remembrance and reflection".

Announcing the plans in January, it said the garden would include a "stone halo" centrepiece bearing the names of the victims of the attack and personalised memory capsules, containing items provided by each victim's loved ones.

Greater Manchester Police said it had received a report of vandalism and officers were investigating.