A Harrogate bar has promised to keep delivering pizza to frontline key workers after donating hundreds to the town’s Nightingale hospital and two care homes.

Major Tom’s Social gave away 200 pizzas at the Nightingale Hospital and donated a further 60 to Station View care centre and The Cuttings extra care housing scheme, which are both in Starbeck.

Lee Bellwood starts preparing the food at 8am in the bar’s kitchen before co-owner Tony Smith starts the delivery run from 12pm to 2pm.

They plan to deliver pizzas to various care homes every Thursday to coincide with the “clap for key workers” event as well as another run at the Nightingale hospital if it needs the support.

Toby said: “We have always seen ourselves as a community venue and during these weird and testing times it’s given us a perfect positive opportunity to get out into the local community and give something back by cooking and donating a load of pizzas to hardworking care workers and NHS staff at the Nightingale hospital. We will continue to donate our pizzas for as long as we can.”

Samantha Westwood, registered manager at Station View, said: “It was just fantastic. It was really good to boost morale at a time when everyone is working hard and doing brilliantly. The staff were so happy, you could see them all lift.

“As no-one can go out for meals at the minute it was a welcome boost to get some food delivered. It helped to bring everyone together as well and created a lovely ambience for the afternoon. At the minute, all our staff are putting in 150 per cent and this provided a wonderful boost.”

Sue Cawthray, CEO of Harrogate Neighbours Housing Association, added: “The pizzas were delicious and the staff feel appreciated. It was a real morale booster.”

Richard Webb, North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate director of health and adult services, said: “Major Tom’s Social is a great independent café, bar and venue in the centre of Harrogate. It’s closed at the moment, but the team there are volunteering to deliver pizzas to support and thank key workers. They have delivered to the NHS and I’m delighted that they have taken time to provide pizzas to people at The Cuttings and Station View.

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI Road World Championships, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray, with the council leader promising that it will be back “better than ever” in September.

Harrogate Borough Council has appointed contractor Glendale Services to start this week. They will start by breaking up and aerating the affected soil as well as treating the grass with a spray that will turn it blue temporarily.

The council said grass will be left for two weeks for the treatment to take effect before the contractors return to undertake rolling, sub-soiling, and further harrowing in preparation for seeding over a week. Seeding will take place at the end of May.

To avoid further disruption, workers will fence off badly affected areas, including the footpaths.

They will also fix uneven flagstones and address the historical drainage issues at the corner of West Park and Otley Road.

Overall, the council believes that the works will cost £129,971, broken down into:

• £38,105 for repairs to grassed areas of West Park Stray
• £65,385 for pavement, footpaths, Heras fencing, bedding and verge repairs, reinstatement of bins and benches plus any additional council work
• £20,156 to fix longstanding drainage issues
• £6,325 project management and delivery costs

That figure is based on estimates provided by the contractors with the council saying the costs for footpaths is covered by the “existing programmes of works that were held off until after the event.”

Harrogate Borough Council released these details a day after an exclusive report from the Stray Ferret which revealed that the council has set aside £150,000 for Stray repair work this year on top of the £51,000 already spent

Councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“It is great to see work start on West Park Stray this week. We hope, by the autumn, it will be returned to its former glory before it was affected by one of the wettest autumns since the 1970s. We have decided to use opportunity to address the historic drainage issues at the corner of Otley Road and West Park. This has been an issue and frustration to local residents for a number of years and I’m pleased to announce this is also being addressed.”

North Yorkshire Police handed out 61 fines this weekend to people who were not following the coronavirus lockdown rules, despite numerous warnings to not visit the county.

31 fines were issued on Saturday to people visiting from West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and as far away as Kent. 17 fines were issued in Malham alone – with 13 being written in an hour.

A further 30 fines were handed out on Sunday, with officers issuing six fines in Brotherton to people gathering to go off-road biking. Other unnecessary journeys included a man travelling from Yarm to Wakefield to pick up paint and two men travelling to Bradford to view a car.

The police believe that in some areas the tide is turning in the wrong direction, with some now taking the decision to no longer stay at home and save lives

Speaking about this weekend’s enforcement Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker said that

“Up until this weekend, the vast majority of both residents and visitors to North Yorkshire have acted responsibly and in accordance to government guidance and abided by the rules around only travelling for essential reasons. We need the support of the public and for some to realise and understand why they are being asked to continue to abide by the stay home rules. This virus is not yet beaten, the threat of a second peak of infection is very real, as we have heard from the Prime Minister himself this morning. That’s why we must keep on going – to protect our love ones; our children, partners, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.”

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any coronavirus deaths today, as hospitals in the UK record the lowest number for four weeks.

The number of deaths reported on Sundays and Mondays tends to be lower due to delays in reporting over the weekends, but today’s number is the lowest since March 30 when 180 died.

Harrogate hospital has so far reported that 43 of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died.

Each Thursday, the hospital releases figures showing the total number of patients who have been treated and discharged – that figure last Thursday was 58.

A further 329 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 18,749.

Patients were aged between 29 and 100 years old. Twenty-two of the 329 patients, who were aged between 29 and 89 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

Scotland reported 13 deaths, Wales reported eight and Northern Ireland has not yet released its figures.

The statistics, released each day, do not account for those who have died of suspected coronavirus but were not tested, such as those in care homes.

The Stray Ferret can reveal that Harrogate Borough Council will spend more than £200,000 on the Stray’s restoration after the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.

The council confirmed it has set aside “revenue expenditure of £150,000 or more” this financial year for the work. That’s on top of the £51,000 it had already spent up to the end of January this year.

Lawnmowers are out on the Stray today with scarifying and re-seeding work starting this week. The restoration work is set to continue until autumn – a year on from when the championships started.

One thing that is unclear is who will foot the restoration bill. It could be Harrogate Borough Council and so ultimately the council taxpayers, Yorkshire 2019 Ltd which was set up to run the event, or their insurers.

The Stray in March this year

What has the council done to restore the Stray?

By the end of January, the council had spent £51,000 on repair work, re-seeding on the West Park section and installing protective netting.

As of February, it had repaired damaged verges, restored bedding, repaired and opened all footpaths, and installed netting around waterlogged and unsafe areas.

The council has not released details of its restoration work since then or exactly what the £150,000 will be spent on. When asked for an update on progress, a council spokesperson said:

“We are addressing the historical drainage issues in the top corner of West Park Stray as well as re-seeding work.”

As well as repairing the damage, the work could include addressing the long-standing problem of flooding on West Park Stray, particularly if future events are being considered. Although, the council has said it is not taking bookings for the Stray until 2021.

The Stray back in October after the championships. Photo: The Stray Defence Association

There has been praise for Harrogate Borough Council over its handling of emergency business grants to keep firms afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

A few weeks after the Government told Harrogate’s council to distribute £50 million to its 4,200 eligible businesses it has handed out £40 million, or 80%.

So far, the council has sent cash payments of £10,000 or £25,000 to 3,000 businesses.

The government released figures on Sunday to show councils across the country have been handling the business grants, with Harrogate Borough Council rated quite highly.

Of the 314 councils named in the document, Harrogate was in 88th place for the percentage of eligible businesses it had sent loans.

At that time, it had sent out £32,820,000 to 2697 businesses, which works out at 64%. That has now risen to £40 million and 80%.

Some councils had already handed out 100% of their business grants by that point but well over a hundred had only handed out 50%, which has attracted some criticism.

One of those businesses is run by photographer Paula Beaumont, who applied for a £10,000 grant after the coronavirus lockdown meant her work dried up:

“My last wedding was on the March 20. There was meant to be 100 people there and there ended up being six. The process of applying for a grant was absolutely fantastic. I applied on March 27, I had an email on April 3 to say my application had been accepted and the money was in my bank by the April 8. You have no idea how helpful this is, I can now breathe a bit.”

Photographer Paula Beaumont.

Stuart Wright, Business Growth Specialist, who has been working with a number of Harrogate businesses during the crisis said:

“I think they have done a fantastic job. My Harrogate based clients would all agree, I’m sure. Very efficient and prompt which has been brilliant for helping to create a really positive mood amongst folk who were quite panicked. Business was stressful enough with the uncertainty without the added pressure of having to jump through hoops and red tape to access the grant, so dealing with this in the way that they have has given my clients the headspace to steady their ships and create plans to come out of lockdown even stronger than they were before.”

Business Growth Specialist Stuart Wright.

Harrogate Borough Council’s leader Richard Cooper said they’re now focusing on the complex cases:

 We suspect there may be one or two companies or organisations who are eligible for the support but that haven’t come forward.  If you are a business owner in the retail, leisure or hospitality trade, please make sure you have a look at our grants information page. Our focus now is on the more complicated claims which we are working through.”

Workers at Stainburn Forest uncovered unexploded shells yesterday and called North Yorkshire Police for help.

Officers attended at around 4pm and located four mortar shells before calling in the Army’s EOD team.

The bomb squad inspected the shells and determined that they were inert, and then removed them.

A spokesperson for the police said:

“Police were called at 3.45pm on 23 April 2020 by the Forestry Commission, to report that suspected unexploded shells had been uncovered during work in the forest at Stainburn Moor, near Harrogate. Officers attended, located four mortar shells, and liaised with the Army’s EOD team. They determined that the shells were inert, and removed them.”

The Stray Ferret approached the Forestry Commission for a comment, but did not receive a reply by the time of writing.

Harrogate District Hospital has reported that two more of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died.

Both patients died on Thursday and it brings the hospital’s total up to 38. Their families have been informed.

It comes as a further 761 people with coronavirus died across the UK.

England recorded 587 deaths, Wales reported 110 deaths, and 64 patients died in Scotland. Northern Ireland has not yet released its figures.

The figures released only include those who have been tested and treated in hospital. Deaths elsewhere, such as in care homes, are not included.

Of the 587 patients who died in England’s hospitals, the patients were aged between 40 and 102 years old.

34 of the 587 patients, who were aged between 50 and 102 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

A total of 58 patients have now been discharged home after being treated for coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital.

Police have said that North Yorkshire remains the safest place to live in the country despite a rise in crime – particularly stalking and harassment as well as public order offences.

New figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) for 2019 showed that North Yorkshire Police recorded 47,929 crimes, which is 9% higher than the year before.

The county seems slightly out of step with the rest of the country, which recorded a drop in overall crime by 5%.  Greater Manchester Police was not included in the data set because of issues with its new IT system.

Stalking and harassment crimes, as well as public order offences, went up significantly by 39% and 36% respectively. When questioned by the Stray Ferret, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said they were not able to add anything to their statement.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Julia Morgan, however, believes that the crime increases are partly down to better recording of offences but said that she was “particularly worried by the rise in violent crime and robbery.”

One of the biggest issues in the Harrogate district remains drugs. An exclusive report in March by the Stray Ferret uncovered that school children “can get drugs in their lunch break.” Police in the town said at the time tackling county lines drugs was their highest priority.

Broken down into the main categories, the ONS figures for North Yorkshire show:

• Violence against the person has increased by 22% (16,794) broken down into:
• Homicide remains unchanged (6 in total)
• Violence with injury has increased by 14% (6,258)
• Violence without injury has increased by 22% (6,702)
• Stalking and harassment has increased by 39% (3,811)
• Death or serious injury – unlawful driving remains unchanged (17)
• Sexual offences have increased by 6% (1,988)
• Robbery has increased by 13% (242)
• Theft offences remain unchanged (17,066) broken down into:
• Burglary has increased by 3% (3,925)
• Theft from the person remains unchanged (477)
• Shoplifting has increased by 4% (4,642)
• All other theft offences remain unchanged (4,663)
• Drug offences have increased by 6% (1,662)
• Possession of weapons offences has increased by 3% (320)
• Public order offences have increased by 36% (3,009)
• Miscellaneous crimes against society have increased by 25% (1,016)
• Bicycle theft has decreased by 9% (1,072)
• Vehicle offences have decreased by 7% (2,287)
• Criminal damage and arson has decreased by 3% (5,832)

North Yorkshire has a crime rate of 58.1 per 1,000 of the population which is the lowest nationally and lower than the average of 89 per 1,000 across England and Wales.

Chief Constable Lisa Winward, North Yorkshire Police said:

“These figures show that North Yorkshire Police continues to be the safest place in the country per 1,000 of the population, despite the snapshot showing a 9% rise in recorded offences in comparison to the same period the year before. Even with our national position, we are not complacent, and a top priority for the force is ensuring victims continue to feel confident about reporting offences to us. As part of this, our piece of work to improve how we record crime, and also detect and investigate offences is ongoing as this naturally influences the county’s crime levels.”

Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council expect the coronavirus pandemic to hit them financially with a combined £75 million budget shortfall.

The borough council has spent more than £20,000 so far and that is rising on a daily basis with a focus on supporting vulnerable residents.

That money does not include redeployment costs, with many volunteers from the culture, tourism and sports sectors now supporting the waste and recycling centres.

Leader Richard Cooper says Harrogate Borough Council was in a strong financial position before the pandemic and that it is almost impossible to estimate the effects coronavirus will have. According to the council, the vast majority of the £10 million they expect to lose out on will be lost income from leisure facilities, car parks as well as the impact on business rates and council tax income.

“Our cash flow has been hit hard and it is difficult to know the long-term impact of that. What I can say though is that we will continue to prioritise spending on front line services, on our retail centres, on community facilities, on the homeless and those at risk of homelessness and on supporting the voluntary organisations that make our area the special place it is.”

Both of the region’s councils have recently welcomed an addition £1.6 billion in Government funding to help with the escalating costs of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.

North Yorkshire County Council believes that its finances would be £65 million worse off before any government grants.

Councillor Carl Les, North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, said:

“The whole of North Yorkshire is pulling together to meet this unprecedented challenge and we are doing everything we can to keep people well and safe and to support the NHS. But we were already operating with reduced spending power so there is no doubt that we like many other councils, will need supportive and long-term partnership with Government for the crucial role we play and to see this crisis through.”