National Highways is warning of three-mile delays on the M62.

Roadworks remain in place outside the tourist information centre in Harrogate town centre.

Rail strikes return tomorrow.

Here is your Stray Ferret traffic update.

Roads

National Highways issued a news release at 6.05am warning motorists the M62 in West Yorkshire is closed between junctions 25 (Brighouse) and 26 (Bradford). The incident has cleared but at 6.40am there were still long tailbacks.

All lanes have now reopened on the #M62 in both directions between J26 (#Bradford) and J25 (#Brighouse) following the earlier @WestYorksPolice incident. There is still approx. 3 miles of congestion on approach both ways, please allow extra time for your journey this morning. pic.twitter.com/AiEUPKD54E

— National Highways: Yorkshire (@HighwaysYORKS) October 4, 2022

In Harrogate town centre, roadworks remain in place outside Harrogate tourist information on Crescent Road. There is no left-turn for traffic turning left at the end of Parliament Street and no right-turn for traffic travelling right in the opposite direction on Ripon Road.

Temporary traffic lights are due to be installed on Cold Bath Road for five weeks later this week.

The A59 York Road, between Station Road and the A658 at Goldsborough, remains closed overnight until October 6. A diversion will be in place.

The closure will be in place while North Yorkshire County Council carries out resurfacing work. The council website says the work will be  carried out between 8pm and 5am but one reader told us yesterday it was until 6am.

Delays are also expected today at Castlegate in Knaresborough where junction markings are being refreshed,

As previously reported, a main road out of Pateley Bridge will be closed for six weeks as repairs are carried out at Fellbeck bridge on the B6265.

Signs for a diversion and a temporary crossing over the river for pedestrians and cyclists are in place.

Trains and buses

Northern is not reporting any problems for commuters on the Harrogate and Knaresborough line this morning. The only incident is that no services are stopping at Rotherham Central due to the attempted theft of signalling cables.

But remember, another train strike is due tomorrow, crippling local services.

Disruption is expected on Harrogate’s LNER services until October 9 due to major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail.

The Harrogate Bus Company has not posted details of any service issues this morning.

Councillors have been recommended to approve a planning application to build 53 homes off Knox Lane in Bilton tomorrow.

Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee is due to meet tomorrow to vote on the scheme. The Queen’s death caused the meeting to be postponed last month.

A 30-page report to councillors by case officer Andy Hough recommends they approve the application by developer Jomast, subject to certain conditions, such as no objection from the local lead flood authority.

However, the councillors could decide to vote against the officer’s recommendation and reject the scheme. The meeting will be broadcast live at 2pm on the council’s YouTube page.

Mr Hough’s report says:

“Amendments to the plans reducing house numbers from 73 to 53 is welcome and the scheme is considered to now be in compliance with development plan policy.

“The site at present represents a transition from the suburban development that is characteristic of the Old Trough area, to the more vernacular loose form of frontage development situated at the hamlet of Knox.

“The frontage to the site has a very rural feel. To aid transition, the houses situated on the Knox Lane frontage have been set back into the site and are to be constructed at low density, behind new additional planting.”

The site is allocated for development in the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where planning can take place in the district.

Residents have said the scheme will decimate an idyllic and historic part of Bilton.

Knox Lane, leading to Spruisty Bridge

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has started posting fact-check videos on his new Instagram account.

The Conservative MP published his first video, which was about the government’s proposed new investment zones, on Friday.

North Yorkshire County Council is one of 38 local authorities in talks with the government about introducing the zones, in which businesses could benefit from lower taxes and liberalised planning rules.

The RSPB charity has labelled the zones an “unprecedented attack on nature” because of the impact they could have on wildlife.

Introducing the series, Mr Jones says fact-check Friday will be “an occasional series where we just present facts — no politics”.

He then highlights how some people are worried the zones  “will mean concreting over green belt and downgraded environmental standards” but he then adds the the government “has made it clear this isn’t the case”.

The video cuts to footage of new Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena saying he is committed to helping farmers curate the countryside. Mr Jones then says:

“Investment zones can take derelict but previously developed sites and transfer them into thriving net zero communities.

“A good example might be the Ripon barracks site. That’s the kind of thing that we should be looking for investment zones to do.”

Mr Jones has 75 followers on Instagram and his video has so far attracted five likes.

Read more:

• Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones joins Instagram
• Green Party chooses man to fight Andrew Jones in Harrogate and Knaresborough

Liberal Democrats and Greens respond

David Goode, chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, said:

“Mr Jones says in his fact-check piece to camera that he will hold the government to account. Let us not forget, he is a Conservative MP, part of the Conservative Party who run the government.

“A government that have just pushed the pound to a record low and caused mortgage chaos for thousands of families. A government that has removed the bankers’ bonus cap at a time when some people can not even afford to put the heating on. Those facts we are dealing with.

“What has Mr Jones done to hold the government to account for this botched mini-budget and its disastrous outcomes?”

Paul Ko Ferrigno, who was named as the Green Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough last month, said:

“Mr Jones says that he intends to ensure that the government’s proposed investment zones will not lead to a deterioration in environmental protections, so I’d like to work with Mr Jones to ensure that current designated protected sites such as national parks, areas of outstanding national beauty, sites of special scientific interest, designated green belt land and buffer zones that surround world heritage sites in Yorkshire will be protected, and not sacrificed to short term economic pressures.

“The fact that these zones are not explicitly protected under the government proposals is worrying.”

A councillor has claimed the majority of people in his ward now support a 20mph speed limit — but enforcement issues mean any change is unlikely.

Paul Haslam, who represents Old Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council, raised the issue with Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Speaking at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny committee last week, Cllr Haslam asked Ms Metcalfe:

“In my area, Bilton and Woodfield, I would say the majority of residents want the whole area to be 20mph. At what stage will police enforce this?”

Campaigners across the country are calling for a speed limit of 20mph to be normal on residential streets and in town and village centres as part of the 20’s Plenty initiative.

Ms Metcalfe said the police and the council “don’t have the resources to be constantly enforcing a 20mph zone”, adding:

“I don’t necessarily agree with 20’s Plenty because for every one person that says they want 20mph there is one who says they don’t.”

She added she could see 20mph limits working “in certain circumstances, like outside a school,” but not as a general measure.

Read more:

• Crime commissioner pledges to tackle ‘woefully low’ rape prosecution rates
• Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine

Tom Thorp, assistant chief executive at the commissioner’s office, said “police enforcement of 20mph limits is difficult”. He said:

“The types of road that want to go 20mph are very residential urban roads and it’s simply not possible necessarily to do the enforcement on those roads easily.”

Mr Thorp and Ms Metcalfe agreed that although police enforcement was problematic, local authorities could introduce more targeted speed restriction measures, for instance speed humps and chicanes, in specific areas, such as near schools. Mr Thorp said:

“There’s an awful lot that we should be doing around prevention before we get to actual enforcement.”

He added North Yorkshire County Council already did this through the  York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, which is a partnership of agencies working tp reduce road deaths.

More speed cameras?

Cllr Haslam questioned why Bilton and Jennyfields appeared to have different approaches.

“If you go to Jennyfields you will see the whole Jennyfields estate is 20mph and I don’t see any reason why the residents of Bilton and Woodfield can’t have the same scenario.”

Cllr Haslam said “camera enforcement works” in 20mph zones in London, adding “I don’t see why we can’t look at that”.

But Mr Thorp said:

“There’s a significant cost to camera enforcement and if we were looking to do that across the piece I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to what that would cost.

“In terms of managing expectations, sometimes putting in 20mph makes it worse.”

The owners of the Wild Swan, the 19th century inn at Minskip, near Boroughbridge, have hired Paul Murphy as chef.

Alex Bond and Stephen Lennox, who bought the Wild Swan last year, heralded Mr Murphy’s arrival as the start of a new era for the inn.

Mr Murphy previously built up the Timble Inn near Otley into a five-star hotel and worked with chef Frances Atkins at the Michelin-starred Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge.

Chef Paul Murphy (left) and co-owner Stephen Lennox. Photo: Laura Hargreaves.

Mr Bond said:

“Paul’s appointment is crucially important for the future of the Wild Swan.

“He has a superb reputation and we are in no doubt that he will take the Wild Swan to a completely new level in terms of the quality and the presentation of our food.

“We are looking to establish the Wild Swan’s reputation for excellent food and drink in relaxed and informal surroundings, making it a destination location for food lovers across the county.”

Read more:

• New owners unveil Minskip pub’s fresh look
• New heritage map reveals Boroughbridge’s rich history

Mr Murphy said he was “determined to give Minskip and the surrounding district an inn to be proud of”, adding:

“I have completely revamped the menu and am determined to create enjoyable and imaginative food at competitive prices. I haven’t been here long, but the reaction so far has been brilliant.

“I am aiming to replicate the success I had at the Timble Inn, which my wife and I ran from 2009 to 2014. Like the Timble, the Wild Swan has immense potential.

“This is a fabulous opportunity. Alex and Stephen have given us a blank canvas. They simply wants the Wild Swan to be at the heart of the Minskip community and to be loved and treasured by villagers.”

The owners said this year they intended to create a microbrewery at the inn but a spokesman for the venue said those plans were currently on hold.

‘Harrogate firefighters being used as guinea pigs’, says union

A union official has said Harrogate firefighters are being used as guinea pigs in a shake-up of fire services in North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe confirmed her three-year blueprint for countywide fire services last week following a three-month consultation.

The changes include reducing Harrogate fire station to one appliance between 10pm and 9am, which would increase the town’s nighttime dependency on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough. However, the station will have enhanced cover during the day, when most fires occur.

The same changes will be implemented in Scarborough in three years time if the Harrogate pilot scheme proves successful.

Steve Howley, secretary of North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union said the changes lacked support by firefighters and councillors and would endanger lives.

Speaking on BBC Radio York, Mr Howley said:

“The Fire Brigades Union represent about 96% of firefighters in North Yorkshire and I can tell you now that none of our members are in support of these proposals

“We all think they are dangerous. We all think they will put firefighter and public safety at risk. Lives will be put at risk.

“They are using Harrogate as guinea pigs to trial these cuts because they are not confident that these are safe and these will deliver what they say they will deliver. It will lead to a real detrimental impact on public safety.”

Read more:

• Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine
• Majority support Harrogate fire station changes, consultation reveals

Mr Howley said the data behind the decision was “fundamentally flawed” because it was based on there being 100% availability of on-call firefighters. He added:

“For the last 15 to 20 years there hasn’t been 100% on-call availability. That number has dwindled and got worse in recent times.”

He said the union did not oppose better fire prevention initiatives but was “vehemently opposed to the removal of frontline public services to reinvest in some of these areas when it should be centrally funded by government”.

Ms Metcalfe said last week the changes were about a better way of operating rather than cuts, and savings will be reinvested in fire prevention work and boosting on-call fire stations. Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Masham, and Summerbridge have on-call stations in the Harrogate district and there is a volunteer-run station at Lofthouse.

Her changes, which will be phased in, will see Harrogate have two fully operational appliances during the day but only one at night.

The station currently has one fully operational appliance and a smaller tactical response vehicle staffed, which are both staffed 24 hours.

Announcing her decision, Ms Metcalfe — a Conservative who was elected commissioner last year — said:

“Some areas of the service will change, and I know change can be unsettling, but I remain confident that the right people, with be in the right place, with the right equipment at the right time, to support everyone in North Yorkshire and York.”

“I have made these decisions to support the transformation of our fire and rescue service based on extensive evidence and from listening to what is important to you, which you said was increasing and enhancing prevention and protection work to stop incidents from happening in the first place”

Jonathan Dyson, chief fire officer for North Yorkshire, said Ms Metcalfe’s proposals provided the correct strategic approach to resourcing fire risk.

He said:

“Our strong focus on prevention and protection activities are the primary way for us to reduce risk in our communities.”

Masham Young Farmers’ Club is fundraising in memory of two local farmers who died after contracting sepsis.

Hannah Brown was in her twenties when she cut her hand and the wound became infected.

David Cooke thought he had covid but also ended up dying of sepsis, which occurs when your immune system overreacts to an infection.

Masham Young Farmers’ Club is working with the UK Sepsis Trust this year to spread awareness of the condition and raise money.

A tractor run in May generated £2,500, now the club has organised an auction of promises, which will take place at Masham Town Hall on October 14. People will bid for donated prizes, which range from a family ticket to the Forbidden Corner to a quad bike package.

Jack Jobling, chairman of the club, which has about 40 members, said sepsis was a cause close to the heart of the farming community. He said:

“Sepsis, if diagnosed early can be treated successfully, however if people are unaware of the signs of the illness it can rapidly become very serious and untreatable.

“Masham Young Farmers’ Club is aiming to not only raise money for the charity, we are trying to increase awareness of sepsis so that people are able to detect signs of the disease faster and therefore save lives.

“This is particularly important within the farming community as farmers often cut themselves and come into contact with muck and other contaminants in their work, and this is one way that an infection can be brought into the body that can lead to sepsis developing.”

Read more:

• Masham Michelin restaurant sold to Tate Modern chef
• £70,000 energy bill increase forces Harrogate district farm shop to close

There are 48 lots on offer at the auction. Profit will be donated to the trust, with a small amount kept to go towards club running costs.

Tickets cost £10 and include a buffet. The event will begin with a short talk and video from a trust ambassador and then auctioneer Kenton Foster will sell the lots.

For more details email mashamyfc@gmail.com, call or text 07521 595412 or call 01677 470353.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has pledged to tackle the county’s “woefully low” prosecution rate for rape.

According to government figures, just nine rape allegations reached court in North Yorkshire between April 2021 and March 2022.

Ms Metcalfe told a meeting this week she planned to visit the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit in Leeds to learn how North Yorkshire could improve its prosecution rate.

The unit consists of lawyers who are specially trained in dealing with allegations of rape, serious sexual offences and child abuse.

Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative who was elected commissioner last year, was responding to a question from Victoria Oldham, the Conservative councillor for Washburn (pictured below), at this week’s Harrogate Borough Council overview and scrutiny committee. Cllr Oldham asked:

“Are you satisfied with the percentages taken through to prosecution?”

Ms Metcalfe replied:

“No I am not. It is woefully low and it needs to get a lot better.”

Read more:

• Majority support Harrogate fire station changes, consultation reveals
• Conservative councillor Victoria Oldham nominated as final Harrogate mayor

Ms Metcalfe said she frequently raised concerns with the Crown Prosecution Service and that violence against women and girls was one of her key priorities.

Cllr Oldham asked whether underfunding was the cause of the problem.

‘Myriad of factors’

Tom Thorp, interim assistant chief executive at the commissioner’s office, replied there were a “myriad of factors involved”, such as collecting evidence, victims not wanting to participate and being unable to locate suspects. Mr Thorp added:

“Then they have to meet evidential thresholds, which can be difficult and even if they get through to prosecution there is no guarantee they will convict.

“Our conviction rate when we get to prosecution is really good – about 80%. That’s one of the highest in the country. Once we get through we know the quality of our cases is good for those that we do take to prosecution so yes, it is about getting more prosecutions.”

Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader in Harrogate and Knaresborough, said she was “shocked to learn violence against women and girls is very high”.

Ms Metcalfe said she had launched a strategy to address violence against women and girls that identified gaps in provision and how to work in partnership better. She added:

“I would like more safer places and there will be investment in that going forward.”

A sheep stuck in brambles on a steep bank of Oak Beck was rescued by Harrogate firefighters yesterday.

Sandra Schiendorfer spotted the animal when she was walking her dog at Oak Beck Park yesterday morning.

She reported it to the land owner but noticed it was still stuck in the afternoon and the water was rising.:

Ms Schiendorfer said:

“When I went back with the dogs in the afternoon the poor thing was still there, but now the beck was rising, because of the heavy rain.

“I rang 101 who in turn contacted the fire brigade. They turned up very quickly with the animal rescue unit.

Read more:

• Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine
• Oak Beck will take three years to recover from pollution, says Harrogate conservationist

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says it was alerted to the incident, near Oak Beck retail park, at 3.20pm yesterday. It adds:

“Crews from Harrogate and Ripon responded to reports of a sheep stuck in wire by the horns, in distress.

“Crews used wading poles, water rescue equipment, an animal halter and a salvage sheet to release the sheep back into the field.”

The sheep back in the field afterwards.

A picket line is operating outside Harrogate train station this morning as rail strikes resume.

The RMT union and Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) are striking today, Wednesday and next Saturday over pay and conditions.

Previous industrial action was cancelled because it coincided with the Queen’s mourning period.

The strikes have affected some people travelling to Harrogate for the three-day Green Party autumn conference, which started yesterday, as well as football fans that planned to catch the train for today’s Harrogate Town vs Bradford City derby at 1pm.

About 15 picketers turned up to support the action today.

Rail passengers have also been warned to expect disruption on Harrogate’s LNER services from today until October 9.

Major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail will affect many services on the LNER route during this period.

Read more:

• Ouseburn councillor opens Green Party conference in Harrogate
• Harrogate and Knaresborough commuters face further strikes