Two arrested after police seize drugs and zombie knife in Harrogate

Police arrested two men in Harrogate after stopping their car and finding a large quantity of drugs and a zombie knife.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police‘s county lines drugs team pulled over a Volkswagen Passat on Victoria Road last week.

They searched the men and found two bags containing around 100 wraps of suspected class A drugs and the knife.

The men, aged 18 and 31 and from the Bradford area, were arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply and possession of an offensive weapon.

Both suspects have been released by the police on conditional bail for further investigation.

Read more:

The officers were from North Yorkshire Police’s proactive county lines drugs team Operation Expedite team,

County lines refers to when dealers travel to smaller towns to sell drugs that they have advertised online.

Police revealed details of the incident today. A spokesperson said:

“We urge anyone with information about drug dealing or if they believe a vulnerable neighbour is being targeted by drug dealers to contact us or Crimestoppers.”

Anyone with concerns about county lines can speak to the police on 101 or call 999 in an emergency.

If you’d rather stay anonymous you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and a happy Wednesday to you. It’s Connor returning to the traffic and travel desk once again to help with your commute.

There are a few road closures and temporary lights in place across the district, make sure you check our lists in case you need to leave a few minutes earlier.

Give me a call on 01423 276197 or get in touch on social media if you spot anything on the roads or are waiting for a delayed bus or train.

The morning blogs are brought to you by The HACS Group.

9am – Full Update 

That is all from me this morning. I will be back tomorrow bright and early from 6.30am with all your traffic and travel news. Have a good day.

Roads

The roads in the Harrogate district are starting to look busy this morning, particularly around those areas where there are construction works in place.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads in the Harrogate district are starting to look busy this morning, particularly around those areas where there are construction works in place.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads in the Harrogate district are starting to look busy this morning, particularly around those areas where there are construction works in place.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads in the Harrogate district are starting to look busy this morning, particularly around those areas where there are construction works in place.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

Community grocery for people in need opens in Harrogate

Food waste organisation Resurrected Bites has opened a community grocery shop in Harrogate to help people who struggle to afford food.

The voluntary group, which turns food destined for bins into meals, launched the concept store at New Park Primary Academy today.

People pay £5 a year to sign up as members and are then entitled to pay £3, £5 or £9 depending on the size of their family, for items that would typically cost £30.

The shop, which can be found in one of the school’s separate buildings on West Street, just off Skipton Road, will be open daily every Tuesday and Thursday between 9.30am and 3.30pm.

Look for the blue gates to find the community grocery.

The new shop has a wide range of tinned, fresh food and frozen food. It also stocks toiletries, sanitary products and nappies in various sizes.

Read more:

Community groceries have been popping up all over the UK. They provide a similar service to food banks but because of the small charge they don’t have the same stigma attached to them.

Supporters donated nearly £1,800 to help get the new project off the ground.

If the new shop goes well, Resurrected Bites plans to open another in central Knaresborough in a location to be confirmed.

Grocery manager Sophia Clark told the Stray Ferret:

“We are aiming to support anybody who is in financial difficulty. There’s no stigma, anybody can end up in food poverty. That is myself included, I needed help during the first lockdown.

“The shop is here so people can save money on food and continue to pay their utility bills over winter. With the £20 universal credit uplift people are really going to struggle.

“It is just to help people get back on their feet. We are going to be running courses in the community hub in the same building on subjects such as debt management and budgeting as well.”

More pictures from inside the shop:

The shelves are stacked.

There are plenty of fresh vegetables.

A fundraiser paid for the new fridge and freezer.

Harrogate district has highest covid rate in Yorkshire

The Harrogate district now has the highest covid infection rate in Yorkshire after another rise in cases beyond record levels.

The district’s weekly rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 630, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

The rate is the 19th highest in England and well above the country’s average of 366.

It equates to almost 150 new infections each day. However, hospitalisations and deaths remain stable when compared with previous waves.

As of last Tuesday, there were 13 covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

Patient numbers there previously peaked at 67 in January.

Read more:

The last time the hospital reported a covid-related death was on September 30 when its toll since the pandemic began reached 189, according to NHS figures.

The Harrogate district’s latest weekly infection rate of 630 cases per 100,000 people is another record for the district, which has seen cases climb steadily since mid-September.

Prior to this period, the previous record was 534 on 18 July.

Speaking recently, Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said the rise in infections in Harrogate and across the county was being “driven by school-age children”.

The latest figures for Harrogate show infections are highest among five to 19-year-olds, although cases among 40 to 49-year-olds are also high.

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

A very good morning to you today on this autumnal Tuesday. It’s Connor returning to the traffic and travel desk hoping to help with your commute.

There are a few road closures and temporary lights in place across the district, make sure you check our lists in case you need to leave a few minutes earlier.

Give me a call on 01423 276197 or get in touch on social media if you spot anything on the roads or are waiting for a delayed bus or train.

The morning blogs are brought to you by The HACS Group.

9am – Full Update 

That is all from me this morning. I will be back tomorrow bright and early from 6.30am with all your traffic and travel news. Have a good day.

Roads

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking quiet so far this morning, with no hotspots just yet. Spotted something? Give me a call.

Road closures:

Temporary lights:

Trains

Buses

Boroughbridge family wait 10 months for developer to replace tree

A family in Boroughbridge is still waiting for a developer to replace a tree that its workers chopped down 10 months ago.

With a new estate being built nearby, Wayne and Cally England were used to the sound of construction but were nevertheless surprised to see a man with a chainsaw in their garden at around 8am on January 6.

When they went out to question him, he told them that he had already started cutting the tree and it was no longer safe so it had to come down.

The worker chopping down the tree.

Taylor Wimpey apologised at the time and offered to replace the tree and install a new fence. However, 10 months later this has yet to happen.

Read more:

Mr England initially believed the tree was on a boundary between his home and the land owned by the developer.

But after the incident he commissioned a geospatial survey, which found the tree was fully on his family’s land. Mr England told the Stray Ferret:

“The kids were crying, I am not laying anything on, they were in tears. It turned out that Taylor Wimpey had been talking to a neighbour who approved the work.

“Taylor Wimpey owned up to the mistake but have done nothing afterwards.

“We had been sending emails back and forth but since I sent in the survey they have not responded. Do they think they can leave it alone and it will go away?

“We want the fence on the boundary and another tree. A lot of people have gone on about compensation but I am not after the money. We just want the tree back.”

The stump of the felled tree.

In emails to Mr England, Taylor Wimpey claimed the tree was damaged and therefore unsafe.

Mr England has always disputed the claim. A tree survey he commissioned found it was healthy and would have lived for another 20 to 40 years.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said:

“We would like to reiterate our regret for any upset caused by removing the tree in Mr England’s garden for health and safety reasons.

“We have been in contact with Mr England to apologise for the delay in replacing the fence and to schedule the works as soon as possible.”

Boroughbridge pub owner feels lucky to survive fire

One of the owners of a pub near Boroughbridge that caught fire over the weekend has said he and his partner are lucky to be alive.

Brian Rey and Elaine Howden, who have owned the Ship Inn at Aldborough for 13 years, were woken at about 2am on Sunday by a ringing sound.

Mr Rey went to the door at the top of the stairs to investigate but as soon as he opened it he was met by a wall of smoke. He said:

“My godfathers, it was really thick white smoke. I thought there was something wrong with my eyes but then I started struggling to breathe.

“So I called Elaine over for us to get out but we couldn’t make it through the smoke. We had some face masks in the room so we put a few of them together and escaped.

“We really were lucky to get out. If that fire had been anywhere else but the store room which is surrounded by concrete then the whole building could have come down.”

The fire service believes the tumble dryer on the right is the likely cause of the fire.

Firefighters from Ripon, Thirsk, Knaresborough and Harrogate were called to the scene. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service later said it believed the blaze started in a tumble dryer.

However, Mr Rey is unsure whether the tumble dryer was in fact the source of the problems. He said they never used it after 5pm and he had smelled something unusual near the fridge earlier that night.

Read more:

Since the fire, the local community has rallied behind the pub.

Both the Grantham Arms and the General Tarleton owners have offered help and people have donated £700 to a gofundme page set up by local resident Sam Stoddart to help the Ship Inn recover from the fire.

The store room is filled with melted appliances. The walls and ceilings are black from the aftermath.

Mr Rey added his thanks for the support:

“The people in the village have been very helpful. We have taken plenty of phone calls from people who have wanted to wish us luck.

“With the fundraiser we were at a bit of a loss. We only found out when a journalist asked us about it. There still is that friendly spirit, I thought those days had gone.”

Work starts on controversial Harrogate Starbucks

Diggers have moved in to demolish a former dental surgery and make way for a Starbucks drive-thru on Wetherby Road in Harrogate.

Construction workers have been clearing overgrowth and moving out leftover furniture from 1st Dental Surgery before the site is levelled.

When complete, there will be a coffee shop with 19 car parking spaces close to the Woodlands junction on the busy road.

Developer Euro Garages has spent almost a decade trying to win permission for the work, which Harrogate Borough Council rejected three times.

The council turned down the latest bid back in 2019 on air quality and highways grounds.

Read more:

Euro Garages appealed and government planning inspector Helen Hockenhull overturned the decision in July and ordered the council to pay costs for the hearing.

The move comes despite fierce opposition from some local residents, who warned traffic on the road was already at “breaking point”.

Ms Hockenhull said in a decision notice:

“I recognise that my findings will be disappointing to the local residents and ward councillor who gave evidence at the hearing.

“With the proposed mitigation measures secured by planning conditions, I am not persuaded that the development would cause significant harm.”

The Stray Ferret has approached Euro Garages and Starbuck for comment.

Thai restaurant set to make Harrogate debut

A Thai restaurant chain is set to make its Harrogate debut after taking over the former Las Iguanas restaurant on John Street.

Giggling Squid started in the basement of a fisherman’s cottage in Brighton but has since developed into a business with more than 40 restaurants.

The restaurant is well known for fresh dishes and bright, floral interiors. It is currently recruiting and has submitted planning permission with Harrogate Borough Council for new signs.

When it opens it will replace Las Iguanas, which failed to open after the initial coronavirus lockdown during which the Big Table Group bought out the previous owners.

Read more:

It is unclear when Giggling Squid will open or how many jobs it will create. The Stray Ferret approached Giggling Squid but it said it was unable to comment yet.

Pranee Laurillard, who founded Giggling Squid with her husband Andy, said on the restaurant’s website of its success:

“We hope you enjoy Giggling Squid, and feel at home in our funny, quirky little restaurants – well some of them are not so little now, but our approach is still the same.

“We love to hear from our guests so please feel free to share your feedback online or drop in to see us at your local restaurant.”

Steakhouse set to open at empty Harrogate restaurant

A steakhouse is set to open early next year on the site of a restaurant that became one of the earliest business victims of coronavirus in Harrogate.

Tomahawk Steakhouse currently has restaurants in London, York and Newcastle and the owner expects it to make its Harrogate debut in January.

The new eatery will take the place of Bistrot Pierre on Cheltenham Parade, which was directly above Sukhothai.

Co-founder Howard Eggleston has been planning to bring his steakhouse brand to Harrogate for four years and feels this location presents the ideal opportunity.

It will create 25 jobs.

Read more:

Mr Eggleston told the Stray Ferret:

“We are quite far down the line on this one. We have the furniture already and we are keen to get started.

“Harrogate is a nice place which I know well, I visit quite regularly. There’s some competition in town but we are bringing something different.

“We are all about the food, not the bells and whistles for decorations. We serve the finest Himalayan salt dry-aged steaks and a lot more.”

The Tomahawk Group has expanded significantly during covid and now has 18 sites, with a further seven, including Harrogate, opening soon.