Digger stolen in ‘high value’ theft at Nidd Gorge

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information after four items of machinery were stolen from a worksite near Harrogate.

The force said in a statement today the “high value” commercial burglary happened at Nidd Gorge, near Bilton Lane, between Friday evening (May 17) and Monday morning (May 20).

One digger and three smaller tracked barrows were stolen.

The statement said:

“We’re appealing for information about any suspicious 4×4 vehicles sighted leaving Bilton Lane over the weekend, potentially with a trailer carrying the stolen equipment.

“Please email ben.wheatley@northyorkshire.police.uk if you have any information that could help our investigation.

“Alternatively, you can call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Ben Wheatley, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website.”

Quote reference number 12240088312 when passing on information.

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Ripon woman sentenced after nine-day fire at waste storage site

A Ripon woman, who repeatedly ignored advice on waste storage, has been handed a suspended prison sentence after a site she managed caught fire.

Laura Hepburn, 44, of Stonebridgegate, was one of six defendants sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Monday (May 20).

Sentencing included prison sentences spanning 6.5 years and fines totalling more than £103,000.

However, Hepburn was spared jail when she was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Hepburn was employed by Selective Environmental Solutions (SESL), a waste storage company that ran a waste site at Liverton, near Loftus in North Yorkshire.

The Environment Agency got involved after discovering the site had exceeded its storage exemption limit of 500 tonnes.

SESL operated at the site between December 2018 and February 2019, where Hepburn worked alongside director Jonathan Waldron and manager Jonathan Guy Brudenell.

The firm registered several waste exemptions, which allow low level waste activity that does not require an environmental permit.

But shortly after the investigation, the defendants reportedly fell out and Hepburn set up Greenology (Liverton) Ltd which operated at the same site in February 2019.

Brudenell, who continued in a managerial role, used the alias Guy Barker at the time, due to a bankruptcy restriction which prohibited him from running a company as a result of multiple fraud offences.

The Environment Agency said Hepburn knew about the fake name while working together.

Despite the Environment Agency discovering waste had increased at the site and advising Hepburn to create fire breaks – used to reduce the risk or spread of fire – she admitted the firm had imported an additional 2,000 tonnes of waste by September 5, 2019.

Waste at Greenology (Liverton) Ltd’s site.

The Environment Agency issued an enforcement notice to remove the waste and continued to advise on creating fire breaks.

However, by January 2020 the site had breached its exemption limit by almost three times the 500-tonne limit.

A nine-day fire broke out on April 5, 2020, which spread through the bales of plastic waste and the building, and ultimately destroyed the site.

The fire at Greenology (Liverton) Ltd.

Teesside tyre waste

But Hepburn’s offences did not stop there.

In February 2020, just before the fire in Liverton, Hepburn also set up Greenology (Teesside) Ltd, in Middlesborough, which stored disused tyres.

However, an Environment Agency inspection in June 2021 revealed the number of tyres at the site exceeded the firm’s waste exemption limit and posed a “significant fire risk”.

The body said Hepburn repeatedly claimed a pyrolysis plant (used to incinerate waste tyres) would be installed at the site, adding a permit had been obtained from Middlesborough Council to do so.

But despite receiving large sums of money from business partners to carry out the venture, the plant was never built, and the excess volumes of waste tyres continued to grow.

Waste tyres at Greenology (Teesside) Ltd.

The mountain of waste posed a threat to the environment and the Environment Agency de-registered all of Greenology Teesside Ltd’s exemptions by October 2022.

Hepburn, who was notified of her prosecution for the Liverton site in 2021, later changed the Greenology Ltd company name to LM South Yorkshire Ltd.

Regarding the Liverton site, Hepburn was charged with two counts of operating a regulated facility, namely a waste storage site, for the storage and treatment pending recovery or disposal of waste plastics, otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit, and as a director the offence was committed as a consequence of the defendant’s consent, connivance or neglect.

She was also charged with three counts of Greenology (Teesside) Ltd treating, keeping or disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and as an officer of the body the offence was committed as a consequence of the defendant’s consent, connivance or neglect.

Hepburn pleaded guilty to the charges.

Greenology (Liverton) Ltd was fined £69,000 and Greenology (Teesside) Ltd was fined £20,000.

SESL was fined £14,666. Former director Waldron was sentenced to 20 months in prison suspended for two years. He is required to be under supervised probation, complete a course of rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £9,000 in costs.

Brudenell was jailed for two years and ten months.

‘Complete disregard for environmental laws’

Gary Wallace, area environment manager for the Environment Agency in the north east, said:

“All of those sentenced have shown a complete disregard for environmental laws, which are there to protect people and the environment.

“They could have been in no doubt that the sites were operating illegally and posed a significant fire risk, but repeatedly ignored our officers’ warnings about bringing the sites back into compliance and making them safe.

“The walls of waste resulted in two major fires, impacting on the environment and causing misery for local residents.

“Waste criminals cause distress to our communities and can destroy the environment and this case demonstrates that we’ll do everything in our power to ensure they are brought to justice for their crimes.”

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Harrogate College to offer adult courses in Ripon

Harrogate College is set to expand its course offering to adults in Ripon.

The college, located on Hornbeam Park, announced it will introduce a progression into care course at Ripon Community House in June.

It added a series of skills workshops tailored towards helping local businesses will also be offered at the Ripon site.

The college said the move comes after discussions with North Yorkshire Council to expand educational and training opportunities across the district.

College principal Danny Wild said:

“As our college has grown and established itself as an important education and training provider for the area, we have increasingly recognised the need to reach out to better support our local community.

“Harrogate is a great town that we’re proud to support, but it isn’t easily reachable for many people in other parts of the county.

“Having a course delivery site in Ripon, which is also easier to reach for people who live in places like Pateley Bridge and Boroughbridge, is an important step towards being more accessible to our community.

“We are working on this in partnership with North Yorkshire Council to make sure there are pathways from the community courses it is running through to higher level and more work-related studies.”

Additional courses, including GCSE maths and English, are set to follow in September in collaboration with the council.

Ripon Community House’s programme manager, Matt Hanson, added:

“We’re really excited to be offering adults in the Ripon area the opportunity to study with us.

“The skills bootcamps, as well as our GCSE offerings, are an important step towards job progression. We are also looking forward to working with Ripon’s businesses to create courses that meet their needs and build on the strengths of the local workforce.”

The college said it is looking into introducing more courses, including health and social care, at the Ripon site in the future.

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Now council changes ‘Avenue’ to ‘Ave’ on Harrogate road sign

First North Yorkshire Council eliminated apostrophes from road signs; now it has started abbreviating them.

Local cyclist Kim Pearson contacted the Stray Ferret after noticing a sign on Harlow Avenue had been replaced by one sating Harlow Ave.

To make matters worse, an older sign opposite it still says Harlow Avenue, which means the two nearby signs for the same street have different lettering.

(L) the newly abbreviated sign and an existing sign just opposite (R).

Ms Pearson said:

“Who decided to use this shortened version of avenue? All to save a few letters on a road sign? It looks awful.

“This road signage could be around for a 100-plus years and we will be judged on our road sign legacy by future generations.

“Not only that but the standards of written and spoken English need to be maintained in our younger children.”

Ms Pearson also cited Eddy Grant’s 1982 number one hit Electric Avenue to reinforce her case:

“Eddy Grant did not rock down to ‘Electric Ave’, did he?”

The move comes after the Stray Ferret revealed last month the council had decided to abolish apostrophes from road signs.

Our story upset the grammar police and was picked up by national media including the BBC and the Guardian but also the New York Times. It even featured on Have I got News For You last Friday night.

One grammar guerrilla even took matters into their own hands by taping an apostrophe onto the sign.

Ms Pearson told the Stray Ferret that abbreviating signs was “even worse”.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if the new format was introduced to save money and whether it will be adopted on other signs.

Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, said:

“The Harlow Avenue street sign and wooden posts were beyond repair and needed replacing. We have no policy on abbreviations, and this was not a cost-saving exercise.

“The purpose was to provide a like-for-like replacement and was done in good faith. The new sign does not change its meaning.”

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Felling Bishop Monkton topiary cockerel did not breach planning, council says

The felling of a giant topiary cockerel in a village between Harrogate and Ripon did not breach planning rules, North Yorkshire Council has said.

The 30ft hedge, which had been a feature of the village for generations, was felled in Bishop Monkton last month.

The 100-year-old hedge stood proudly in front of Cockerel Cottage and garnered local and national attention during its lifetime.

Its disappearance led to furore among villagers.

In a letter from the council, seen by the Stray Ferret, residents were last week told an investigation was launched into the felling following complaints of a potential breach of planning control.

But planning enforcement officer, Christopher Keddle, who wrote the letter, concluded “no breaches have taken place”.

Mr Keddle said after reviewing all the evidence, he found the cockerel was a hedge, rather than a tree, which “does not require consent from the council” to cut down.

He adds:

“Furthermore the council couldn’t prevent the owner from growing the cockerel shape out, even if the hedge was retained, we had no control whatsoever regarding the shape of the hedge.”

Mr Keddle also said one complainant had commented on the listed status of the property, adding:

“Finally, there has been comment regarding the listing of the property. Hedges, trees, flowers etc. are never included within the listing and therefore the hedge would not be protected.”

Mr Keddle said as there is “no breach” the case will be closed.

Bishop Monkton Today reported one villager who had complained was “unhappy” about the council’s findings, but added they had “no plans” to appeal.

The Stray Ferret reported on the felling at the time, as villagers were left horrified by the move.

Gary Cross, landlord of the Masons Arms in the village, said he knows the owners, who were not named, and understood the cockerel blocked light and became difficult to maintain.

He added:

“It was a pretty big object and attraction. Some residents are very upset about it. But they don’t have to live next to it.

“With the beck flooding, a lot of their garden was subject to flooding and it held pools of water, which was difficult to deal with. The owners have been there two or three years and tried to work with the cockerel but it had just become so big.”

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Pierce Brosnan ‘borrows screwdriver’ from Knaresborough opticianPierce Brosnan ‘borrows screwdriver’ from Knaresborough optician

Staff and customers at a Knaresborough eyewear store had a surprise today when James Bond star Pierce Brosnan walked in.

Yorkshire Eyewear, on High Street, helped the 70-year-old film star after he came in with “a problem with his glasses”.

Meg Lazenby, who runs the store’s social media, told the Stray Ferret that Brosnan asked to “borrow a screwdriver” at about midday today.

She said:

“He sort of walked past and then came in. He said he had an issue with his glasses and asked to borrow our screwdriver to fix them. He didn’t buy anything though.”

Ms Lazenby said the star, who is rumoured to be filming a new biopic called Giant about Sheffield ex-boxer Naseem Hamed, was “lovely and very polite”.

He agreed to pose for a photo with a customer, telling them he was in the area because he “loves the Yorkshire scenery”.

During his trip to Knaresborough, the former 007 also stopped at Castle Creamery.

Owners Tim and Jane said he was “lovely and really charming”, adding he enjoyed his ice cream “outside with other customers”.

Tim added:

“He said he was working on a project in Leeds and was on a day off today”.

Pierce Brosnan with Castle Creamery owner Jane.

The Harrogate district seems to have stolen Pierce’s heart – much like he stole the hearts of many admirers when he played Bond four times. Three weeks ago he was spotted having a pint — rather than a martini — in the Fat Badger in Harrogate.

Shortly after his sighting, the elusive former frontman of The Smiths, Morrissey, another Harrogate regular, was photographed on Cut Throat Lane in Shaw Mills.

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Harrogate-born man to represent UK in Eurovision final tomorrow

A Harrogate-born man will represent the UK at the world’s biggest music competition tomorrow night.

Olly Alexander, frontman of UK-chart-topping band Years & Years, will go head-to-head with 25 other countries in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.

The competition celebrates its 68th anniversary this year and marks the beginning of Olly’s solo career after more than a decade of success with Years & Years.

The group achieved two number one UK albums, 10 UK top 40 singles and, most recently, were awarded the BRIT Billion Award after reaching 6.5 billion global streams.

But Olly will tomorrow face other European hopefuls alone – all competing to follow in ABBA’s footsteps 50 years on.

In an interview with the BBC, he said:

“I’m feeling very proud to be representing the UK with my song Dizzy. I can’t believe that it’s happening to be honest with you, this whole experience feels like a dream.

“I’ve watched Eurovision since I was a kid and now that I’m going to be out there on the stage, flying the flag for my country. It’s quite overwhelming but very exciting.”

He also said he has one pre-stage ritual, which is to “hug whoever I’m going on stage with”.

Olly Alexander rehearsing for Eurovision. Pic: BBC/Mercury Studios Media Limited.

However, Olly also told the BBC he did the one thing Eurovision contestants shouldn’t do – he looked at his odds – and it appears the UK doesn’t stand a great chance of winning (again).

“My odds for winning are at one per cent”, he told the BBC, adding “but that’s fine. It’s better than zero”.

According to EurovisionWorld.com, Croatia is favourite to win, with a 38% chance of success. Israel and Switzerland are next.

The competition is being held in Malmö following Sweden’s seventh win last year.

The final of the Eurovision Song Contest will be streamed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 8pm tomorrow night (Saturday, May 11).

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Heavy rain causes Starbeck church ceiling to collapse

The ceiling of a Starbeck church has collapsed after a severe rainstorm this week.

David Leonard, a treasurer at St Andrew’s Church, contacted the Stray Ferret on Wednesday after part of the ceiling of its Welcome Centre caved in on Monday evening (May 6).

Mr Leonard said the volume of rain was “too much” for the rooftop drains, which led to the damage.

The church also took to social media to say the Welcome Centre is “out of action” following a “severe ingress of water”.

Mr Leonard said the church has insurance, but would also apply to various charities for financial help to fix the ceiling.

He said:

“I don’t know exactly but I expect it’ll cost at least £5,000 to repair – if not more.

“I imagine the welcome centre will be out of action for around three months, but the repairs will take as long as they take.”

Mr Leonard did confirm, however, the church is still operating as usual and can be accessed via different doors.

It comes after an extreme rainstorm hit parts of Starbeck and Knaresborough on Monday.

Several Knaresborough roads were underwater, while homes were flooded and residents were forced to evacuate.

The damage raised questions about the ability of local drainage systems to cope, but North Yorkshire Council denied this was a factor.

Mr Leonard attributed the damage at St Andrew’s to “just a case of there being exceptional weather that day”.

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Police issue appeal to find wanted Harrogate man

North Yorkshire Police has issued an appeal this afternoon to locate a wanted man from Harrogate.

Police said the man, Matthew Tuck, is believed to be staying in the Harrogate area.

Tuck, 29, was jailed for 18 months last year for spitting at a police officer after being arrested for wielding a knife in Harrogate town centre.

He took out the blade during an argument with two men outside a pizza shop on Station Parade.

In a statement today, police said he is “wanted on prison recall”, adding:

“We have carried out extensive enquiries to locate him and are now appealing to anyone who has seen him or knows where he is now to get in touch.”

Officers have urged people with an immediate sighting of Tuck or those that know where is to call 999.

Police added:

“You can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website. Or you can call us on 101 and pass information to the North Yorkshire Police Force Control Room.”

Quote reference number 12240029930 when passing on information.

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