A man has been jailed for embarking on a two-month fraud spree at hotels in Harrogate and York at the end of last year.

Parmpareet Singh-Pooni, of no fixed address, admitted two offences at the Crowne Plaza on King’s Road in Harrogate when he appeared before magistrates in York on Monday.

He pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining accommodation, food and drinks by claiming he was called Nikko Singh and not paying for them between November 3 and 6.

Singh-Pooni also admitted trying the same ruse at the Crowne Plaza on either November 23 and 24.

He pleaded guilty to stealing £140 cash from behind the reception at the Dean Court hotel in York on December 17 and defrauding Malmaison in York by giving another false name and not paying for food and drink between December 27 and 31.

He was jailed for 10 weeks, with court documents saying he was jailed because of the number of offences, his record and due to the fact he was on recall.

Singh-Pooni was also ordered to pay compensation totalling £1,083 to the Crowne Plaza, £140 to the Dean Court Hotel and £452 to Malmaison.

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Harrogate District Hospital is ‘almost completely full on a daily basis” and has urged patients’ families to help free beds.

Hospital officials appealed for help today amid growing concerns about the NHS’ ability to cope with winter pressures.

More than a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services declared critical incidents over the festive period. Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, has said up to 500 people could be dying each week because of delays to emergency care.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has not declared a critical incident but a spokesman said 50 patients were currently unable to leave because they were waiting to be allocated care or a placement.

This bed-blocking was compounding “significant pressure due to the number of people requiring our help and the challenges of a difficult winter”, the spokesman said.

He added:

“Over bank holidays, our emergency department is usually busier than normal, and this has been the case over the period since Christmas.

“Our hospital is also affected by the high numbers of covid and flu patients we are currently caring for. These patients often require a longer stay in hospital before they can return to care or residential homes.

“This, in addition to around 50 patients who are waiting to have care or a placement allocated so they can leave our hospital, means Harrogate District Hospital is almost completely full on a daily basis.”

The emergency department at Harrogate District Hospital.

The spokesman said this was leading to “long waits for beds to become available” and visitors with less urgent issues experiencing longer waiting times.

He added:

“We do know that when patients are starting to improve and no longer require hospital care, the remainder of their recovery happens much quicker in their own homes.

“We would ask for the families of patients to help us support their loved one’s discharge home as soon as their medical condition allows.

“Some patients may be fit to be discharged to their own home, but still require additional support to help them in their recovery. Our teams will work with patients and their families to support them as best we can.”

The spokesman also appealed to families to show understanding if the hospital had to return care home patients to different care homes for short periods.

He reiterated the message to only visit the emergency department for life-threatening or severe illnesses or injuries.

A Pateley Bridge resident has expressed frustration at a delay in the completion of major roadworks in the town.

Temporary traffic lights have been on the B6265 at Red Brae Bank, Bewerley since storms caused a landslip in February 2020.

In October, North Yorkshire County Council began a £480,000 scheme to stabilise the road, which is on the steep slope out of Pateley to Greenhow Hill — the highest point in the Harrogate district.

The road was due to close on October 17 and re-open on completion of the work on December 16. But it remains closed , with the scheme now set to continue for at least another fortnight.

Former Pateley town councillor Chris Hawkesworth, who lives nearby, said he had been unable to find out why the scheme had been delayed and when it would be completed.

Mr Hawkesworth said large vehicles that ignored road closed signs and then turned on the narrow, steep hill had damaged his farmhouse wall and post box.

He said local people had to make an 11-mile detour to get into Pateley Bridge even though it is less than a mile away and businesses in the town were losing customers because of problems accessing the area.

Chris Hawkesworth on the B6265 near his house.

He added some couriers refused to deliver in the area and rubbish was going uncollected. He said:

“I can’t get any answers from anybody.

“I am glad the road is being sorted but you don’t expect this amount of chaos and lack of communication around it. We are supposed to be a sophisticated country.

“Some businesses in Pateley are more than 50% down on their takings.”

Andrew Murday, the Liberal Democrat county councillor for Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale, told the Stray Ferret he had spoken to Mr Hawkesworth about the matter.

Cllr Murday said the project was “geologically difficult” and had proved trickier to resolve than expected but it was a major scheme that was close to completion.

He said he understood how frustrating it was and sympathised with those affected, adding one delivery lorry had got stuck on the minor road Peat Lane when the driver tried to find a shortcut around the diversion. Cllr Murday said

“Of course people are going to complain and they are extremely inconvenienced and some businesses are being put under stress over it.”

January 18 completion — depending on weather

North Yorkshire County Council’s highways area manager, Melisa Burnham, said:

“Reconstruction work on Red Brae Bank, between Greenhow and Pateley Bridge, is coming to an end. This is essential work however we appreciate the disruption the lengthy closure has caused, and we are grateful for the patience of all road users.

“Our contractors created a path to allow access for pedestrians and cyclists during the Christmas and New Year period.

“Work has taken longer than anticipated as it became clear that we needed to increase the depth and length of the excavation to lay the foundations. Final works involve reconstructing the surface of the road.

“We expect the road to reopen on Wednesday, January 18. All works are weather dependent so we will keep the public updated if there are any changes to the schedule.”

The founder of Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments has sold the business to SJM Properties — the company which owns the building.

Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments provides 18 one-bedroom and two-bedroom serviced apartments on King’s Road, close to the town centre.

Andrew Armstrong has stepped down after 17 years of offering hotel alternatives in Harrogate to the public.

Jessica Lister, who was Mr Armstrong’s general manager, has been promoted to director under the new owners.

Mr Armstrong, who lives in Ilkey, said he felt it was time to spend more time with his wife Claire and his three children.

He and Ms Lister had worked together since 2011, when she became booking coordinator for 10 Harrogate holiday lets Mr Armstrong ran near Hales Bar.

Andrew Armstrong

Over time her role developed into sales, then marketing, followed by office manager and general manager.

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The two of them opened 18 luxury serviced apartments now known as Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments on King’s Road in 2017.

Ms Lister said:

“Starting up a new business and of course getting through a worldwide pandemic has been no means an easy ride.

“Like many business and households we’re sadly sure to be facing harder times ahead. Following two years of sustained recovery across the hotel sector, with the cost of living crisis, energy prices, staff shortages and other inflationary costs and a recession on the horizon we facing another challenging period ahead.

“But I am pleased to say we are a business who will always be committed to our wonderful guests that still need a place to stay in Harrogate North Yorkshire for work, for leisure and often somewhere to live between renting or buying a home in Harrogate.

“Our team remains optimistic and dedicated to making every visitors time in Harrogate a special one.”

Education inspector Ofsted has given its seal of approval for the opening of a new school in Harrogate for pupils requiring additional support.

Strive for Education currently provides alternative provision to 28 students aged 14 to 19 from Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough for one to three days a week.

Many struggle in a mainstream school environment due to social, emotional or mental health issues and are at risk of exclusion. Often they are referred to Strive by local schools.

Strive now wants to open as an independent school catering for 18 pupils in September, with a view to expanding numbers. Most of the pupils would be on its roll full-time, rather than sent there part-time by other schools

As part of that process, it underwent a pre-registration inspection from Ofsted in November.

The inspector’s report, published last week, concluded the school “is likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens”.

Andy Brown

Strive, which was set up by former Harrogate Grammar School assistant headteacher Andy Brown and his wife Sonja in 2020, is now awaiting confirmation from the Department for Education that it can open as an independent school in autumn. Mr Brown said:

“We’ve grown and grown and got to the point where we need to be an independent school. It will make a huge difference for students that require extra provision.

“There’s a huge lack of support for special education needs students who need extra support beyond what mainstream schools can offer.”

Local shortage

Mr Brown said local students requiring additional support currently often had to travel to places such as Leeds or Darlington because of a shortage of local provision.

Students with special educational needs can apply to their local education authority for an education, health and care plan, which identifies their needs and the additional support required.

Those assessed to have the greatest need receive personal budgets, which can be used to fund additional support such as that provided by Strive, which will charge annual fees starting from £25,000.

Strive is based on North Park Road in Harrogate and has a workshop in Starbeck.

It will continue to use these sites but Mr Brown said it was “definitely looking for a suitable venue to increase our size and additional numbers”.

If Strive’s plans are successful, it will initially have 12 full-time pupils on its own roll.

It also wants to maintain alternative provision for six pupils to fulfil demand for this from local schools.

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Firefighters came to the rescue when a horsebox left the road in Killinghall today.

Crews from Harrogate and Ripon were summoned to the village at 12.07pm after a 7.5 tonne horse box left the road following a single vehicle collision.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log said:

“Crews stabilised the vehicle to allow the owner to remove the horse from the rear of the vehicle. Incident then left with police.

“Crews used a tirfor winch and stabfast stabilisation equipment.”

Five minutes after the Killinghall call, Harrogate firefighters attended flooding in the basement of a house in Beckwithshaw.

The incident log said:

“Crews pumped water from basement and gave advice to owner. A light portable pump and hard suction were used at this incident.”

The incidents were part of a busy day shift for the Harrogate crew, which at 8am dealt with a reports of a diesel leak on a road in North Rigton.

Firefighters carried out an investigation and requested a highways gully-sucker to unblock a surface water drain.  

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One hundred new electric vehicle charging bays are due to be installed in the Harrogate district this year, bringing the total to 120.

The bays are expected to be available early this year but the dates for each locality have not yet been published.

Half of the district’s 120 bays will be in Harrogate, which will have 60. They include a dozen each at the Victoria multi-storey car park, the Odeon cinema and Hornbeam Park.

There will be 27 in Knaresborough, 19 in Ripon, six in Boroughbridge and four each in Pateley Bridge and Masham.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said the bays would help achieve a net zero-carbon economy by 2038, adding:

“These new charging points support the uptake in electric vehicles for both our residents and our visitor economy, and complement other sustainable travel options.”

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Chapel Street car park in Knaresborough

The decision to block off existing car park spaces for the new bays before they were in use caused controversy in Knaresborough last month when one business said it was damaging trade.

Hairdressers Kelly Teggin said she supported the introduction of electric charging bays but couldn’t understand why it had been done in the run-up to Christmas when the new bays weren’t even in use yet.

Harrogate

Victoria multi-storey car park – 12 Bays

Hornbeam Park – 12 Bays

Odeon – 12 Bays

West Park – 8 Bays

Park View – 6 Bays

Dragon Road – 10 Bays

Knaresborough

Conyngham Hall – 12 Bays

Chapel Street – 10 Bays

Leisure Centre (new) – 5 Bays

Ripon (new)

Cathedral Car Park – 6 Bays

Blossomgate Car Park – 4 Bays

Ripon (existing)

Leisure Centre – 5 Bays

Phoenix Business Park – 4 Bays

Boroughbridge (Phase 2)

Back Lane Car Park – Up to 6 bays

Pateley Bridge

Southlands Car Park – 4 Bays

Masham

Market Place – 4 Bays

A meeting of creditors of Harefield Hall Ltd is to take place next week as the business faces the prospect of being wound-up.

Harefield Hall is a family-run guest house, restaurant and wedding venue popular with walkers and tourists. The building, set amongst 28 acres of woodland, once belonged to the Archbishop of York and is rumoured to have also belonged to Henry VIII.

The Gazette, a journal of public record, last week posted a notice by Elaine Little, a director of the company, announcing the virtual meeting of creditors on January 9.

The notice said the meeting had been called under section 100 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which allows for the appointment of a liquidator.

A meeting of shareholders prior to the creditors’ meeting will consider passing a resolution for voluntary winding up of the company. The notice added:

“The resolutions to be taken at the creditors’ meeting may include the appointment by creditors of a liquidator, a resolution specifying the terms on which the liquidator is to be remunerated, and the meeting may receive information about, or be called up to approve, the costs of preparing the statement of affairs and convening the meeting.”

Harefield Hall is situated off Ripon Road, just outside Pateley Bridge.

Elaine Little

Two years ago Ms Little told the Stray Ferret she was looking forward with optimism after three covid lockdowns and flooding badly damaged business.

The Stray Ferret has called and emailed Harefield Hall seeking comment and clarification over whether it was still trading but not had a response.

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Hampsthwaite claimed bragging rights over Birstwith for the rest of the year after winning the annual New Year’s Day tug of war contest.

Men’s and women’s teams from the Joiners Arms in Hampsthwaite and the Station Hotel in Birstwith did battle at Hampsthwaite cricket field yesterday in front of a large crowd of spectators.

The men’s and women’s teams from Hampsthwaite both came out top in the best-of-three pulls.

The teams then put aside their rivalries to enjoy pie and peas at the Joiners Arms and take part in a raffle to raise money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

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All the photos below were taken by Edward Lee.

The ice rink, carousel and ferris wheel that have become key features of Harrogate town centre over the last month are set to close.

Harrogate Borough Council introduced the attractions to attract local people and tourists to the area over the festive season.

The Christmas offering began on December 2 with the opening of Harrogate Christmas Fayre, which consisted of about 50 market stalls in town centre streets, along with the ice rink, carousel and 32-metre ferris wheel.

The fayre and the free candy cane express road train, which transported people around town, lasted 10 days.

Since then the festive feel has continued with the ice rink, carousel and other fairground rides at Crescent Gardens and the ferris wheel in the very centre of town alongside the war memorial.

The ferris wheel is due to make its last rotation at 5pm tonight. The attractions at Crescent Gardens will end tomorrow.

The council organised the activities in partnership with events company Market Place Europe, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Events By Cynosure.

Details of the costs and impact on the local economy have yet to be released.

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