Atherton Library opening postponed after knife attack
The council has said the opening has been ‘postponed until further notice’.
The opening of a new council library has been postponed after local authority staff were injured in a knife attack.
A pair of town hall workers and a contractor received treatment in hospital on Friday following the incident in Atherton.
All three – two men and a woman – have now been discharged from hospital, police said, and a 38-year-old man who was arrested at the scene has been detained under the Mental Health Act.
It is understood the staff were transferring books from the old library facility into the refurbished town hall ahead of its scheduled opening this week.
The council has said the opening has been ‘postponed until further notice’.
Councillor Keith Cunliffe, deputy leader at Wigan Council, said on Friday: “We are all incredibly shocked following this incident and thank Greater Manchester Police and the ambulance service for their quick and professional response.
“We have been supporting those staff members who have been injured and our thoughts are with our contractor colleague and his family as he undergoes hospital treatment.
“We take the safety of all our staff extremely seriously and will be looking at all safety procedures in light of this incident.
“We are offering counselling and support services to all staff who have been involved, witnessed or been affected by the attack.”
The council had moved the town’s library from Atherton Centre on York Street to the refurbished town hall.
But it has delayed a decision on the potential sale of the centre after receiving ‘expressions of interest from the community’ to take over its running.
A report had recommended the authority should consider offloading it via auction because of the poor condition of the building.
Greater Manchester Police have appealed for witnesses to Friday’s incident.
Chief Inspector Dave Henthorne, said: “As we continue with our investigation around this, we’d still like to hear from people who witnessed any part of the incident (on Friday morning).
“If you were in the area around 10.30am and have dashcam footage, this might be a real help for us in piecing together what happened.”
Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 7225 quoting reference number 559 of 26/10/18 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111