Manchester incident live: Cordon in place with major emergency response

A cordon is in place in Manchester city centre with a major emergency service response to an incident.

Police, fire crews and colleagues from the North West Ambulance service are outside the Arndale shopping centre opposite the Printworks.

It is unclear at this stage what is the cause of the incident which is causing considerable traffic disruption. The Mirror has contacted Greater Manchester Police for comment.

Police said that the victim has suffered "potentially life-changing" injury.

"The victim, a male in his mid-teens has received an injury that has been described as not life-threatening but potentially life-changing," said GMP.

"A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and remains in custody.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "At 6.10pm this evening (Saturday 12 September 2026), we were called to an ongoing disturbance at Exchange Square in the city centre.

"Officers arrived at the scene and established that an individual has had an unknown substance thrown at them following a verbal altercation.

"The victim, a male in his mid-teens has received an injury that has been described as not life-threatening but potentially life-changing.

"A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and remains in custody.

Anyone with information about this incident, including any CCTV, mobile or Dashcam footage is asked to get in contact with GMP using 101 or gmp.police.uk, and quoting log number 2156 of 12/09/2026.

Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Inrix, a traffic monitoring site, has reported that Withy Grove is closed as a result of the incident.

In an update on its website, it reads: "Withy Grove in both directions closed due to incident from Shudehill to Corporation Street."