Archie Gray has signed his first professional deal with Leeds United.

Gray, who turned 17 last Sunday, agreed the two-and-a-half year deal with the club until the summer of 2025.

The midfielder is yet to make his debut for the club, but was named as an unused substitute for the Whites five times in the Premier League last season.

Gray completed his GCSEs at St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate last year.

He is also great-nephew of Leeds legend, and Kirkby Overblow resident, Eddie Gray.

In a statement following Gray’s signing, Leeds United said:

“Everyone at Leeds United would like to congratulate Archie on signing his first professional deal and we look forward to his future progress.”

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Two North Yorkshire Police officers have been dismissed after sending racist text messages between each other.

Detective constable Danielle Kirby and police constable James Mills were alleged to have breached the force’s standards of professional behaviour.

Both were dismissed following a gross misconduct hearing at the force’s headquarters in Northallerton.

The pair exchanged WhatsApp messages which were found to be racist between December 2018 and March 2019.

Mabs Hussain, deputy chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, said:

“The racist language and sentiments contained in the series of WhatsApp messages are repulsive.

“It has no place in society, let alone from people who have sworn an oath to uphold the highest standards of fairness, integrity and respect to all people.

“The evidence in this case was damning, and it is only right that the panel upheld the gross misconduct and the officers have been dismissed from North Yorkshire Police.”

Gerry Sydenham, who chaired the panel, said:

“The messages exchanged by former PC Mills and former DC Kirby contained appalling racist comments which were egregious in nature and content.

“The corrosive effect of such racist gross misconduct upon public confidence in policing cannot be understated.

“It is intolerable and devastating to the good work of other police officers who try daily to build the public’s trust and confidence in policing.

“Both officers undermined the public’s trust and the trust of their police force in themselves in a grave and shocking manner, causing very significant and potentially lasting damage to public confidence in policing.”

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A Harrogate district taxi driver has criticised North Yorkshire County Council over a licensing policy following a meeting with a senior councillor.

Cabbies from Harrogate, Ripon and the GMB Union met with Conservative councillor Derek Bastiman, executive councillor for open to business, over the new single zone policy in North Yorkshire yesterday.

Under the plan, the new North Yorkshire Council will create a single licensing policy for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles in the entire county.

It will mean drivers in Harrogate can operate anywhere in North Yorkshire, whereas they are currently restricted to the Harrogate district.

After the proposal was announced, drivers predicted it would cause “chaos” and called for a meeting with the council over the policy.

Following the meeting with Cllr Bastiman, drivers criticised the council over the continuing with the proposal.

Richard Fieldman, who has run his taxi company for 28 years in Ripon, told the Stray Ferret that he felt the council “did not know what it was doing”.

He said:

“The top and bottom of it is they have not got a clue what they are doing. I have said before, this is going to cause destruction for the trade.”

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Mr Fieldman added that some drivers would lose out under the new system.

He said cabbies raised concern over the policy and potential new fees and fare with Cllr Bastiman.

However, Mr Fieldman said he felt that the trade was “fighting a losing battle”, but that added they would continue to oppose the changes until the new system begins next month.

In response, Cllr Bastiman told the Stray Ferret:

“I can confirm that the meeting was very cordial. 

“Driver’s comments were taken away with an assurance that following a meeting that I will arrange with the relevant officers hopefully next week, a full response will be provided to the representative from the GMBU who offered to circulate to those operators present at the meeting. 

“Those present were happy with this proposal.”

Inspectors have raised concern over North Yorkshire Police’s ability to keep people safe and reduce crime.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services undertook an inspection of the force in October 2022 for its effectiveness and efficiency.

The report, published today, rated the police as inadequate in good use of its resources.

Meanwhile, the force was rated as requires improvement for responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people and developing a positive workplace.

However, it was assessed as adequate for preventing crime and managing offenders. It was rated as good for treatment of the public.

Concern over police performance

In his report, Roy Wilsher, inspector of constabulary, raised concern over how the force kept people safe and reduced crime.

In particular, he said senior leaders did not have enough oversight of human resources and IT or of the “impact that failures in these areas have had on policing services”.

Mr Wilsher said the force did not have enough trained detectives and pointed out there was  “only a limited plan to address this”.

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He added that the force should improve the speed with which it answers and responds to emergency and priority calls.

The speed of responding to 999 calls was criticised.

However, Mr Wilsher said that North Yorkshire Police worked well with other organisations to safeguard vulnerable people.

He said:

“I have concerns about the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime. In particular, I have serious concerns about its strategic planning and organisational management.

“Senior leaders in the force need to ensure they have effective oversight of its enabling services, such as IT and HR functions. Failures in these areas impact the service the force provides.

“North Yorkshire Police also needs to improve the speed with which it answers and responds to emergency calls. The force is well below the national standard, with only 41.9 percent of 999 calls being answered within 10 seconds.

“However, we did find that the force works well with partner organisations to safeguard vulnerable people. We found good examples of the force working with other organisations to divert young people away from offending and to reduce the vulnerability of people who may become victims of crime.

“Although I have concerns about corporate processes, I am pleased that the force has accepted our findings and is engaging with us and other partner organisations to ensure improvements are made. I remain in regular contact with the chief constable and will monitor the force’s progress towards addressing the cause of concern and areas of improvement I have established.”

In response, Lisa Winward, chief constable at North Yorkshire Police, said the force had recently approved a £1.8 million investment in its force control room to help tackle call response times.

She said:

“The report highlights a number of areas that the force delivers well but also reports on a significant number of areas that require improvement. A number of these relate to the corporate capacity and capability of the organisation linked to workforce planning, governance, performance management, financial planning, and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our shared enabling services.

“They told us that while the right actions might be taking place on the ground by our people, they were not able to find sufficient evidence of how this was directed and overseen through our governance structure.

“The inspectors told us that every single person they spoke to was committed, fully engaged in their work and doing a really good job in difficult circumstances. They told us that our people take pride in being part of North Yorkshire Police and that there is a strong sense of belonging in the force.

“Since we received the hot debrief from HMICFRS in October 2022, we have been working at a pace to address the issues that they have raised so we can focus on our core responsibilities to the public.

“The Organisational Improvement Plan that we have put in place focuses on achieving the standards required to deliver a good service to our communities. The force has been through a significant period of change since our last inspection in 2018, and in particular to our corporate services where our inadequate grading has been identified. We are investing heavily to make these changes.”

Commissioner ‘more than disappointed’

Zoe Metcalfe

Meanwhile, Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said she expected to see “immediate change” in police response to call times after approving a £1.8 million investment in the force control room.

She added that she was “more than disappointed” with other findings in the inspector’s report.

She said:

“I’m more than disappointed with other findings in the report and I’m sure members of the public will be too. It’s unacceptable that North Yorkshire Police requires improvement in multiple areas, in particular its strategic planning, organisational management and value for money – clearly more needs to be done and is being done as I continue to hold the chief constable to account. Our police force needs to do significantly better.

“I’m confident that the chief constable is overseeing significant transformation work within North Yorkshire Police to improve these outcomes, and that since October 2022 has implemented a trusted organisational improvement plan that can be effective at pace.”

A blanket 20mph speed limit across the south side of Harrogate is “urgently needed”, a councillor has said.

The proposal would see all streets between York Place and the southern edge of Harrogate limited to 20mph.

The petition has been set up by parents Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans, who founded the Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign. They say it is vital to ensure children can travel to and from school in safety.

The pair presented the case to councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency area committee yesterday.

Ms Peacock told councillors that the group wanted “safer streets for the community” and pointed out that the petition had already reached 700 signatures.

She said:

“Maximum speed limits of 20 miles per hour have been delivered in other rural and urban areas of Yorkshire and the UK including Calderdale, Cornwall, Oxford, Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders and London with positive effects.”

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She highlighted recent crashes on Beechwood Grove and on Yew Tree Lane, where two teenagers from Rossett School were seriously injured and required hospital treatment.

In the wake of the incident on February 2, headteachers from almost every primary and secondary school in the area met at Harrogate Grammar School to urge representatives of North Yorkshire County Council to take action.

During the meeting, Cllr John Mann, who represents Oatlands and Pannal, said he backed the proposal and described it as being “urgently needed”.

He said:

“I support the Oatlands road safety petition.

“I have written to the head of highways and the cabinet member for highways saying that I support the petition. 

“I have also called for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane, Hookstone Road and Beechwood Grove to have 20mph speed limits.

“In my view, as a member for the area, this change is urgently needed to improve road safety and reduce air pollution.”

Melissa Burnham, area highways manager for the county council, said the authority was meeting with the group to discuss the proposals.

Next week, the group is due to meet again – this time at St Aidan’s Church of England High School – and will be joined by a caseworker for Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as the county council’s transport lead, Cllr Keane Duncan, and local councillors whose divisions are affected.

The meeting of more than 30 people will follow a walk around the Pannal Ash area led by the parents, for councillors and school representatives to discuss the issues.

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

The Swinton Estate in Masham has announced a raft of staff promotions

Kevin Sansom, John Lawrence and Jordan McPhillips will be taking on new roles as Samuel’s Restaurant manager, head concierge and assistant financial controller respectively.

Meanwhile, Louise Dermott and Helen Pritchard have been promoted to spa guest services manager and therapist trainer within the country club and spa team.

The estate has also hired Nicolay Araujo as Terrace Restaurant manager.

Swinton Estate said on its Facebook page:

“A huge thank you to all the team for their continued hard work and the important part they play in our Swinton family.”

Government minister visits Harrogate Bus Company

Buses minister Richard Holden (second left) at Harrogate Bus Station with (from left) Transdev operations director Vitto Pizzuti; Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones; Transdev commercial manager Matt Burley; and network manager Alex Spencer.

The government’s buses minister paid a visit to Harrogate Bus Company this past week.

Richard Holden visited the firm’s training centre in Starbeck where he spoke with trainee drivers, before visiting the bus station in Harrogate town centre.

The minister also met younger colleagues starting out in the bus industry, as well as older recruits taking up bus driving as a change of career.

Accompanied by Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, the minister then attended the operator’s headquarters with operations director Vitto Pizzuti, training manager Dale French and commercial manager Matt Burley.

Mr Pizzuti said:

“We’re delighted to have welcomed the buses minister, who saw for himself the lengths we go to during wintry weather to keep our buses on the road serving our customers.

“The minister was also impressed to learn of the success of our government-supported £2 price drop, which has helped us to attract record numbers of motorists to leave their car keys at home and choose the bus instead.”

Mr Holden said:

“Having invested more than £2 billion to support bus services since the pandemic, it’s fantastic to see so many people using the bus here in Harrogate.

“Our £2 bus fare cap is helping to turbocharge the return of passengers, and we will continue to work hard with local authorities and operators like the Harrogate Bus Company to get even more people to hop back onto the bus.”

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A senior county council officer has said the authority is not guaranteed to receive any funding to improve cycling and walking in Harrogate.

Officials at North Yorkshire County Council have bid for £3 million to fund three schemes across the county.

Their priority scheme is Victoria Avenue in Harrogate, which would see parking spaces removed to create segregated cycleways.

But they also have plans to create cycle lanes on the A59 Forest Lane in Knaresborough from Maple Close to Knaresborough High Bridge.

The government told the council it had an “indicative allocation” of up to £1.08 million, which it could put projects forward for in order to be assessed. It then encouraged the authority to apply for more funding, which led the council to bid for an additional £2.16 million.

A decision on the funding is expected by the Department for Transport tomorrow.

However, at a meeting of the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee this morning, Cllr Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, asked senior officers whether the indicative allocation was guaranteed.

Melissa Burnham, highways area manager for the council, said:

“We have put the bid in for the three schemes, but we are not necessarily guaranteed to get any of them.

“We are hopeful. But until tomorrow, we just don’t know.”

Cllr Harrison said that councillors should measure their expectations ahead of the decision on funding.

He said:

“We need to bear that in mind when we keep promoting things.

“We have to be realistic about what we can deliver and that’s assuming that we get the money.”

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Drivers on a main route in and out of Harrogate will face disruption this summer when Harewood Bridge closes in July.

Leeds City Council is planning to carry out resurfacing and maintenance work to the grade-II listed structure.

The bridge carries the A61 Harrogate Road over the River Wharfe and is a busy route between Harrogate and Leeds.

The move is expected to see the structure closed during the school holidays. However, a specific date and timeframe has yet to be confirmed.

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said:

“The latest position is that we intend to carry out these important repairs during the school holiday period starting at the end of July, to minimise any disruption.

“We are currently reviewing all options and will be consulting widely including with North Yorkshire County Council, parish councils and other key stakeholders on our proposals and the diversionary routes required.

“Once a timetable is confirmed we will be updating the local communities with as much notice as possible so residents and businesses can plan ahead.”

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North Yorkshire County Council is estimating that its Brierley Group of companies will return to profit by the end of the financial year.

According to a performance report for the group, the businesses are forecast a £2.69 million profit before tax by the end of 2022/23.

The figure is against a budgeted profit of £2.61 million.

It comes as the companies had previously posted losses of £327,000 for the previous financial year due to the covid pandemic.

The county council puts the performance down to a “positive outlook” for sales in Brierley Homes sites and other companies performing above budget.

A report due before the council’s shareholder committee said that while revenue was ahead of budget, the group still faced cost increases, inflation and high energy and labour costs.

It said:

“Revenue remains significantly ahead of budget, however all market segments continue to experience material cost increases, with inflationary pressures in the UK acting to drive up general costs of sale.”

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Brierley Homes saw completion of two of its housing sites last year, which is expected to see sales “fully realises this financial year”, the report added.

The sites include Woodfield Square in Bilton and Millwright Park in Pateley Bridge.

The company expects further sales for its Yew Tree Farm site in Marton-Cum-Grafton.

Meanwhile, Align Property Partners is expected to publish a profitable position with “new external client contracts being acquired” and the firm having a “significant outperformance” against budget.

The company is expected to operate on a commercial basis under North Yorkshire Council as the authority sets up a new council-owned estates firm.

However, North Yorkshire Education Services is expected to post a loss for the financial year.

The council has put this down to “ongoing issues in the education market” due to covid, including rise in food costs in school catering and low pupil attendances levels.

The report said:

“Meal uptake in schools has not recovered in many areas to pre-covid levels which has led to dis-economies of scale.”

Teachers at schools across the Harrogate district are staging another walkout tomorrow.

Members of the National Education Union are striking tomorrow and Thursday in a dispute over pay.

The union argues a 5% pay rise in 2022 was insufficient to combat the impact of inflation at 10%, leaving many teachers effectively facing a pay cut.

The move will affect education across the district, with some pupils taking lessons remotely.

How Harrogate district schools are affected

Tomorrow, Harrogate Grammar School pupils in years 9, 11 and 13 will be asked to attend school as normal.

However, those in years 7, 8, 10 and 12 will take lessons remotely.

On March 16, years 10, 11 and 13 will be asked to attend school while years 7, 8, 9 and 12 will work from home.

Meanwhile, St Aidan’s Church of England High School has told parents it will “endeavour to provide their usual suite of lessons” for those who are required to attend school.

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Years 8, 9, 11 and 12 have been told they should take lessons at home, while years 7, 10 and 13 should attend as normal on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the school has informed years 7, 9, 10 and 13 to work from home while year 8, 11 and 12 should attend lessons.

Elsewhere, Rossett School has informed parents that it intends to keep the same arrangements for both strike days.

The school said:

“As a leadership team, we have decided that Year 8, 11, 12 & 13 will be in school and Year 7, 9, and 10  will be working remotely.”

St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate will remain open to year 11 and 13 only on March 15 and year 10 and 12 on March 16.

Outwood Academy in Ripon will remain open to year 9, 11 and vulnerable students tomorrow.

On March 16, it will be open to year 11 and year 10. Other pupils not due in school will be expected to work from home on both strike days.

Details of how other secondary schools are affected will be posted as we get them.