Sainsbury’s to open store in Harrogate town centre

Sainsbury’s is planning to open a new store in the centre of Harrogate by the end of the summer.

The Sainsbury’s Local store will open in the former Topshop unit at 33-37 Cambridge Street, which has been empty for more than two years.

Sainsbury’s expects to employ about 25 people in a mixture of full-time and part-time roles.

Sainsbury’s already has four stores in Harrogate: a large store on Wetherby Road and smaller Local stores on Leeds Road, King’s Road and Cold Bath Road.

The new store will be just a minute’s walk from the Tesco Express on Cambridge Road.

The investment comes at a difficult time for the town centre, with many businesses closed or struggling to survive as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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It comes at a time when Sainsbury’s is to cut 500 head office jobs. Another 650 jobs at the company are also said to be at risk.

An artist's impression of the new Sainsbury's Local in Harrogate.

An artist’s impression of the new Sainsbury’s Local in Harrogate.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s property director, said:

“We’re excited to open our doors to a new convenience store in Harrogate by late summer this year.

“Our investment in Harrogate will give the local community a new and modern store and support jobs during the fit out and beyond.

“This Local will offer everyday essentials and give residents, workers and tourists the chance to get what they need as they go about their busy daily lives.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning everyone and welcome to our live traffic and travel service for the Harrogate district, designed to keep you moving.

Whether you travel by car, bus or train we will keep an eye out for any possible disruption to your journey. All brought to you by The HACS Group.

It’s Connor again back on the travel desk from 6.30am. Spotted an accident or a road closure? Send your updates to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

If traffic is moving well or it’s at a standstill then we will let you know with our updates every 15 minutes.

Full update 9am

Thanks to everyone who has gotten involved in the traffic and travel today. I am heading over to the news desk now but will be back tomorrow from 6.30am to keep the Harrogate district moving.

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Can Great Yorkshire Show and vaccine site take place together?

Health leaders revealed today they are in discussions with the organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show about whether the event and the vaccination programme on the site can take place together.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society announced this week it planned to stage the three-day show from July 13 to 15, adding the decision would be ‘reviewed regularly’.

This raised questions about the impact on the mass vaccination programme that is being run at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

The showground, which can carry out up to 1,800 vaccinations a day, has been the Harrogate district’s main vaccine centre since December.

The NHS is due to be giving jabs to under-50s at the time of the show.

The vaccines are administered in the Yorkshire Event Centre building at the showground. The event centre is usually a key part of the Great Yorkshire Show, hosting many food stalls.

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Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told a coronavirus press briefing today:

“It’s great that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that venues which would have been standing empty have been serving such a great purpose.

“There are a number of sites we will be having conversations with over the next few weeks and there are also sites we are already in discussions with.

“We are talking about how we can run vaccination sites concurrently with public-facing events or whether we need to think about providing it in a different way.

“So we are working with individual sites to understand what the different options are for us.”

The Stray Ferret also asked the Yorkshire Agricultural Society about the situation.

Heather Parry, Managing Director of Yorkshire Event Centre said:

“We are discussing our plans with the NHS vaccination centre and together we expect to come up with workable solutions.”

Harrogate man speeding at 126mph was also breaking lockdown rules

A Harrogate man broke lockdown and speeding rules when he was caught driving at 126 miles an hour on the way to Scarborough.

North Yorkshire Police said today the man had picked up a woman from York and they were on their way to Scarborough when they were caught near Stainton.

When questioned by officers they explained that they “just wanted to go for a drive”, which was not considered to be a reasonable excuse for being outside during lockdown.

Sergeant Daniel Thompson, of Scarborough’s neighbourhood policing team, said at a North Yorkshire coronavirus press briefing today:

“One of the safety cameras on the A64 sighted a vehicle travelling at 126mph. I managed to stop that vehicle as it approached Stainton.

“There were two people in the vehicle. A man who travelled from Harrogate who picked up the woman from York. They were travelling from York to Scarborough for a drive.

“That was the only purpose. They were from two different households and travelled significant distance. The speeding was putting themselves and others at risk.

“Just going for a drive was not a reasonable excuse. We tell these people to just do their bit and as the police we will continue to do our bit.”

Police and public health leaders are increasingly concerned about the number of people breaking lockdown rules as the weather improves.

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North Yorkshire Police said today it has handed out 255 lockdown fines in the last seven days, which is a 33% increase on last week.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police’s lead on the coronavirus response, said:

“We are starting to see a concerning trend. Over the last few weeks we have reported increasing numbers of fines that the police are handing out.

“There has been a significant upturn in the numbers. We handed out 255 fines in the last week, with 169 in the last weekend alone.

“We believe the figures are influenced by the good weather but officers are reporting that there has been a change of behaviour since the government released its roadmap.”

Harrogate town centre cleaned ready for return of retail

Harrogate Business Improvement District has called in its cleaning crew to sort out the town’s “grot spots” ready for the return of retail next month.

Teams have started weeding and washing footpaths on East Parade, Tower Street and Bower Road, including the pedestrian tunnel.

When they have finished there they will move onto other areas the Harrogate BID has identified as being in need of a clean.

Last year the BID awarded Yorkshire-based company UK Nationwide Cleaning Services a four-year cleaning contract.

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Between April and December, the company power-washed about 40,000 square metres in the town centre.

Sara Ferguson, chair of the Harrogate BID, said:

“One of our remits is to build on the day-to-day work undertaken by Harrogate Borough Council’s street cleansing department, and to ensure Harrogate town centre continues to look at its best all year round.

“With Easter a month away, and ‘non-essential’ shops to reopen on April 12, we want the town to look clean, welcoming and inviting for the long-awaited return of customers, hence this early spring clean.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning everyone and welcome back once again to our live traffic and travel service for the Harrogate district.

Whether you travel by car, bus or train we will keep an eye out for any possible disruption to your journey. All brought to you by The HACS Group.

It’s Connor again back on the travel desk from 6.30am. Spotted an accident or a road closure? Send your updates to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

If traffic is moving well or it’s at a standstill then we will let you know with our updates every 15 minutes.

Full update – 9am

That’s another morning of traffic and travel. I hope you do find the service helpful. I am now heading over to the newsdesk but will be back again tomorrow morning from 6.30am.

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Harrogate jumpers raise £10,000 for homeless people

A Harrogate clothing store has raised thousands of pounds to help homeless people by selling charity jumpers.

Sara Shaw, who owns womenswear shop Violet on Cheltenham Mount, created the “HGTE” brand and regularly updates the range with new colours and styles.

The shop donates £10 from each sale to the Harrogate Homeless Project, which has benefited to the tune of more than £10,000 so far.

The local charity uses the money for accommodation costs and to help homeless people get back on their feet.

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Not only has the clothing range raised funds but it has also sparked other charitable activities, such as bike rides.

It all started as a one-off for Christmas in 2016 but Sara told the Stray Ferret that sales have recently started to ramp up:

“We are now selling lots of the jumpers. It is just word of mouth really because people like the quality of the product.

“I also genuinely love it if I am driving into work and I let some people cross the road and they have got one of these jumpers on.

“We also give £10 from the sale of each sweatshirt which is a lot of money to give to charity, so people really feel they are making a difference.”

The sweatshirts cost £60 and the hoodies cost £75. They are unisex and only available to purchase from the Violet store in Harrogate.

Knaresborough vaccine site prepares to give 10,000 jabs a week

The company running Knaresborough’s new vaccination centre plans to administer 10,000 jabs a week from next month and create a “carnival atmosphere”.

The centre, which is run by Knaresborough-based Homecare Pharmacy Services, is made up of two modular units at the old Lidl site on York Road.

During Saturday’s opening day, which started at 8.30am and finished at 8.30pm, pharmacy staff got the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab in the arms of 850 people.

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However, many people turned up too early on the opening day, causing delays, and the company hopes that when such teething problems are overcome it will be able to inoculate more than 1,400 people a day.

That ambitious target is only just a little behind the mass vaccination site at the Great Yorkshire Showgrouund in Harrogate, which currently gives out 1,800 vaccines a day.

Homecare Pharmacy Services has urged people to turn up only a maximum of 5 minutes early and to also bring their NHS numbers to help speed up the process.

It was a sunny and warm day on Saturday for people queueing but the weather could easily worsen. Pharmacy boss Jason Baskind told the Stray Ferret about his plans to keep spirits up:

“We would like to create a bit of a carnival atmosphere for those waiting. We will of course control social distancing but we want some entertainment in the car park.

“The town choir and other musicians will come to the vaccine centre and hopefully that takes attention away from the queueing.

“We are told that vaccine supply will improve significantly by the end of March so by April we hope to be open every day and give out 10,000 jabs a week.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and welcome to our traffic and travel service, which is designed to keep the Harrogate district moving.

Whether you travel by car, bus or train we will keep an eye out for any possible disruption to your journey. All brought to you by The HACS Group.

It’s Connor again back on the travel desk from 6.30am. Spotted an accident or a road closure? Send your updates to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

If traffic is moving well or it’s at a standstill then we will let you know with our updates every 15 minutes.

Full update – 9am

Thanks again everyone for checking out the Stray Ferret’s traffic and travel service today. I am now heading over to the newsdesk but will be back again from 6.30am tomorrow.

Roads

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Buses

Full update – 8.45am

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Firefighters rescue Parka-wearing climber from Almscliffe Crag

Firefighters rescued a climber who got stuck up Almscliffe Crag on Saturday.

Crews from Knaresborough attended the incident on Crag Lane, North Rigton in the afternoon.

They used a ladder to help the Parka-wearing climber back to safety.

Almscliffe Crag, which is made of Millstone Grit, is a popular landmark for climbers and walkers.

A spokesperson for Knaresborough Fire Station said the person was not injured but had “a little bit of hurt pride”.

One comment on the fire station’s Facebook post accused the unnamed climber of “irresponsible behaviour” during a lockdown.

North Yorkshire Police has frequently warned people not to travel for exercise during lockdown.

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But Paul Metheringham, Knaresborough watch station manager for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, told the Stray Ferret:

“The young man was local to the area so he was not breaking any coronavirus restrictions.

“He thought he would climb up with his friend and realised that he had got himself stuck at about five metres up.

“Luckily no injuries, just a little bit of hurt pride and hopefully a lesson learned.”