A 13-year-old girl from Harrogate has pleaded guilty to being drunk in public and attacking three police officers.

The girl, who who cannot be named for legal reasons, was referred to North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service for seven months.

The organisation provides a range of services to reduce crime and help young people stay out of trouble.

North Yorkshire Youth Court, sitting in Harrogate on Friday, heard that the girl was drunk and disorderly in Ripon Market Place on March 24.

She assaulted two police officers there and another one at Harrogate police station on the same day.

The girl pleaded guilty to all the charges as well as to a separate public order offence in Harrogate on April 3.

Read more:

• Harrogate girl, 13, charged with drunken assault on police
• Teen girl referred to youth panel after Harrogate McDonald’s police attack

Motorists are enduring misery on the roads in Harrogate today, with long delays on three of the main routes around town.

Wetherby Road, Skipton Road and Ripon Road have all been affected by incidents, bringing traffic to a standstill on the northern side of Harrogate.

Resurfacing outside the yet-to-open Leon drive-through close to the Woodlands junction is causing long delays in both directions on Wetherby Road and Hookstone Drive.

Resurfacing outside Leon

Traffic heading towards the Kestrel roundabout is backing up all the way from Leon to the Empress roundabout and all along Skipton Road to New Park roundabout – a distance of almost four miles.

The four-way traffic lights at the Woodlands junction, near the Leon site, brought tailbacks to Hornbeam Park.

Many vehicles were turning around in attempts to avoid the queues.

The fallen traffic lights.

The central reservation damaged by the traffic lights.

The situation was made worse this morning when a traffic light at the junction of Skipton Road and King’s Road, near Bilton Working Men’s Club, came crashing down.

That has now been removed but traffic was still queueing for miles in all directions when the Stray Ferret cycled around town at about midday today.

Queueing on Skipton Road

Motorists trying to avoid the delays on Skipton Road by heading into town on Ripon Road were hit by further roadworks outside Cygnet Hospital.

Roadworks on Ripon Road is adding to delays.

Read more:

• Decision looms on future of Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood
• Review finds Harrogate 2019 UCI cycling championships ‘effectively closed’ town centre

A new bus service will operate from Knaresborough and Harrogate every Sunday from this weekend for the summer season.

Eastern DalesBus 825 will run to Ripley, Brimham Rocks, Fountains Abbey, Kirkby Malzeard, Masham, Leyburn and Richmond.

It will continue every Sunday and bank holiday until September 25, departing from Knaresborough bus station at 10am and stand three at Harrogate bus station at 1020am.

Eastern DalesBus 825 is run by York-based Reliance Motor Services , which provides rural bus services in North Yorkshire, as part of the DalesBus network, with support from the National Trust and North Yorkshire County Council’s Locality Fund.

Full timetable details are available in a leaflet available from Harrogate Bus Station and here.

Other DalesBus services running from Harrogate include double-decker DalesBus 59 on Saturdays to Blubberhouses, Bolton Bridge and Skipton, and DalesBus 74 on Saturdays to Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Grassington.

DalesBus 24 runs daily between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge, with onward connections on Sundays and Bank Holidays to Upper Nidderdale and Grassington.

Read more:

• Harrogate buses enjoy strike boom but taxis suffer
• Concerns raised over ‘success’ of rural bus pilot scheme in Ripon and Masham

A Harrogate care home that closed after a highly critical report by government inspectors has indicated it plans to reopen after refurbishment.

Mary Fisher House, on Cold Bath Road, was rated inadequate and put into special measures in April by health and social care regulator the Care Quality Commission.

The CQC report, which followed an inspection in February, found evidence of rodent droppings in the kitchen, said some bedrooms smelled of urine, described medicines practices as unsafe and said there were insufficient staff to safely support people.

Residents were subsequently moved out of the four-storey home, which is run by private care provider Svivekcaregroup Care Group Limited.

The final residents left just over a week ago and the home closed.

But a statement by solicitors acting on behalf of Svivekcaregroup indicated the home, which caters for up to 24 residents, is likely to reopen.

The statement said the company was “naturally very disappointed with the CQC report”, adding:

“We have, however, used this as an opportunity to begin implementing a wide-ranging series of improvements and environmental upgrades at the home.

“Regrettably, the pace of the improvements was not as we had envisaged and we have therefore taken the difficult decision to close the home.

“This will enable a full refurbishment to take place and the new systems and processes in development to be completed.

“While we acknowledge and are sorry for the upset this will cause our residents and their families, we feel that this is the most responsible route to ensuring that we are able to deliver safe, good quality care in a welcoming and modern environment.”

Read more:

• Residents moved from Harrogate care home with rodent droppings
• Shocking video shows teens ripping up trees on Harrogate Stray

The Stray Ferret asked why the slow pace of the refurbishment had prompted the home’s closure and when it might reopen but we have not received a response.

After the home’s recent closure, Rachel Bowes, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for care and support, said it had been “been working alongside NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group with the home’s owner to try to secure improvements”.

A CQC spokesperson, said it had “taken action to protect the safety and welfare of people living at the home” and its “legal processes do not allow us to go into further detail at this time”.

Harrogate’s Isaac Smith is hoping for a career as a professional touring car racer after a successful season so far.

Mr Smith, 20, finished second in the latest round of the Touring Car Championship UK at Brands Hatch in Kent last weekend, hitting speeds of up to 135mph.

He’s currently second overall in the championship after three of seven meetings. He’s also leading the Tom Walker Trophy for newcomers.

Touring car racing features heavily modified road cars. It is considered much fairer than Formula One because the engine capabilities of the cars taking part are far more even, making it more of a test of driving skill.

Encouraged by his petrolhead father Mike, Mr Smith, from Blubberhouses, started racing go-karts at the age of 10.

He moved to senior racing when he was 17 and hopes to become a full-time professional.

Isaac Smith

He aims to race on the European circuit and then compete in the World Touring Car Championships.

Asked what he enjoys about the sport, he said:

“There’s nothing else that gives me a kick like racing. It’s always a battle out there.”

Read more:

• Blessing for Nidderdale racing team heading to Isle of Man TT
• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly ready for emotional Elland Road fixture

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has rejected claims that proposed changes to Harrogate’s night time fire service will increase the risk to lives.

Ms Metcalfe is consulting on a three-year plan for fire services in the county in the face of severe financial pressure.

One of the proposals is to reduce the number of fire engines operating overnight at Harrogate and Scarborough fire stations from two to one.

This has been criticised by firefighters and trade unions, who fear it could cost lives.

But in her first interview with the Stray Ferret since she was elected commissioner in November, Ms Metcalfe said she disagreed with this assessment:

“From everything I’ve seen I’m confident that won’t happen. This is a genuine consultation. I would really urge everyone to engage with it.”

Ms Metcalfe’s Risk and Resource Model 2022 to 2025 Consultation, published in May, sets out how the fire service will deploy its resources over the next three years. It puts the emphasis on fire prevention, especially during the day when most fires occur.

Firefighters tackling a recent blaze in West Tanfield.

Harrogate and Scarborough currently both have an emergency fire engine and a tactical response fire engine operating 24 hours a day.

The model proposes both stations have two emergency response vehicles during the day but only one at night. They would lose their tactical response engines altogether.

Ms Metcalfe was accompanied at the interview by Dave Winspear, who is part of the senior management team at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Winspear, who is based in Ripon, said the changes would enhance the current fire service model across the county, adding:

“During the times when we know we are busiest we are providing additional resource into those two towns by bringing in a different type of fire engine.

“It improves the ability to respond to a wide range of incidents.

“We are looking to remove a fire engine in the evening when we are quiet but based on the fact that we have robust arrangements in around the Harrogate and Scarborough area from other fire stations that can respond into that area.”

He added the tactical response engine, which will be lost, had “limited response capability” compared to emergency fire engines.

Harrogate fire station

Harrogate currently employs 40 firefighters across four watches and five could be affected by the changes. Mr Winspear said they would be offered the chance to be redeployed.

Government cuts £8m a year

The new model for fire services is being drawn up against a bleak financial backdrop.

The government recently axed North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s capital grant, worth about £8m a year.

It means the service could have to borrow up to £31 million over the next five years. Steve Howley, Fire Brigades Union North Yorkshire brigade secretary, has said the service would be left struggling to buy basics.

Ms Metcalfe described the decision to cut the capital grant as “very unfair” at the time it was announced and this week told us she was “working hard for additional funding” to ensure the service didn’t end up in the position outlined by the union.

Zoe Metcalfe

Delays answering 101 and 999 calls

Ms Metcalfe, who was born in Ripon, went to school in Harrogate and now lives in Aldborough, also said she was working to reduce delays in answering 101 and 999 calls in the police control room.

Home Office figures last month showed that North Yorkshire police took on average 30 seconds to answer 999 calls — the third worst performance in the country. The calls should be answered within 10 seconds.

“Over the last couple of years there has been a huge increase in the volume of calls, especially 999 and they come first.”

The commissioner’s office has pledged £140,000 to address the issue. When will people noticed a difference?

The force control room should currently employ 146 full-time equivalent employees across communications and dispatch when it is fully staffed.

Read more:

• Fire Brigades Union ‘seriously concerned’ over cuts to Harrogate service
• Harrogate firefighter brands plans to rely on one fire engine ‘farcical’

There are currently 141. With the commissioner’s additional investment, there will be a revised target of 161.

Ms Metcalfe said a third of calls to police involved mental health issues and it was important to understand the data better and work with other organisations to tackle the issues.

She said her background as a Conservative councillor on Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council meant she was familiar with many of the agencies involved in mental health.

Asked whether she, as a senior Conservative politician, shared Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones’ lack of confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson, she said:

“I will leave that to MPs in the parliamentary party.”

You can find out more about the proposed changes and take part in the consultation here.

Harry Gration was loved  by many people in the Harrogate district and across Yorkshire. He touched many lives – last year he worked with us at the Stray Ferret in a competition to find Harry’s Heroes.

In the course of a few weeks he met the finalists and made podcasts with them – talking to them about what inspired them to work for others.  It was what Harry liked doing best — meeting people from all walks of life.

Tamsin O’Brien the director of the Stray Ferret worked with Harry at the BBC when he was presenting Look North.  Today she said:

“Harry was a one-off. He was fun and simply got on with everyone. A naturally gifted communicator.

“I worked with Harry in my previous career at the BBC and it was joy to work again with him last year on Harry’s Heroes. It’s hard to take in the news that he’s no longer with us.

“I speak on behalf of all of us at the Stray Ferret by sending Helen and his family all our love and thoughts at this time. There was only one Harry Gration.”

Susie Little from Covid Co-operation Harrogate, who was one of the nominated heroes, posted a picture on Facebook of herself with Harry and this message :

Susie Little with Harry last year for Harry’s Heroes

Harry Gration lived in York but was a regular visitor to the district.

He was a season ticket holder at Harrogate Town which posted this message:

Recently Harry spoke at a Harrogate Brigantes fundraising event. Today a statement was issued from the club’s Les Ellington:

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Harry Gration MBE, who was guest speaker and auctioneer at our charity dinner only on 17 June, helping us to raise over £5000 for our Ukraine appeal.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends and former colleagues at the BBC. Rest in peace Harry and thank you from all of us.”

Do you have memories of meeting Harry Gration? Do send them to us and we will publish them in the coming few days. contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

A 40-year-old man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder in Beckwithshaw.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also charged with assaulting an emergency worker.

It follows an incident at a house on the main B6161 Otley Road, very close to the local primary school, at about 8.20am on Monday.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today:

“We are continuing to appeal to anyone who may have been dropping off children at the school, or commuters passing by, to check their vehicle dashcam and report any footage that may have captured any part of the incident prior to the attendance of the emergency services.”

Anyone with information can contact the police on 101, press 2 and ask to speak to the major investigation team.

Quote reference number 12220105995 when passing on any information.

Read more:

• Woman arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Harrogate
• Harrogate murder trial hears that body was found in a rug

A woman in her 40s has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Bilton.

A man in his 40s has also been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

It follows an incident at a house in Byland Road last night when a woman was seriously injured by what police believe to be a “bladed article”.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this evening said:

“It has also been established this was an isolated incident and it is believed there is no further risk to the wider public.”

The scene on Byland Road this morning.

Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Sygrove, a senior investigation officer, said:

“We hope this goes some way to reassure the residents of Bylands Road and the surrounding areas.”

Police were called to Byland Road at about 5pm yesterday. Forensic officers also attended the scene.

The woman is the second person in the Harrogate area to be arrested on suspicion of attempted murder today.

This morning a 40-year-old man was arrested for the attempted murder of an 11-year-old child and a 10-year-old child, following an incident in Beckwithshaw on Monday.

Police urged anyone with information on the Bilton incident to call 101, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers instead on 0800 555 111.

Quote reference 12220108308 when providing any information.

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Read more:

• Man arrested for attempted murder of two children in Beckwithshaw
• Harrogate firefighters issue smoke alarm warning after house fire

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People are being urged to take measures to avoid covid after the rate of infection tripled in the Harrogate district this month.

The covid rate had been decreasing across North Yorkshire since the end of March. But the trend has reversed in recent weeks due to a more transmissible variant of Omicron.

At the end of May, the district’s rate of infection was 55 people per 100,000. It is now 172.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Cases of covid are once again rising across the UK, including in North Yorkshire.

“The latest increase is being driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, which has also caused high rates in other countries across the world.

“There is evidence that BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible than previous variants, and there is limited protection from infection with previous variants against BA.4 and BA.5.”

Dr Turner said getting vaccinated, meeting outdoors or in well-ventilated areas indoors, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces, and good hand and respiratory hygiene would reduce the risk of transmission.

Read more:

• Online meetings during covid saved council £4m
• Harrogate council charge police over £110,000 for CCTV since 2016

She also advised people with covid symptoms to try to stay at home for five days following the day of their positive result.

Free covid testing is no longer available for most people, but tests can be bought from pharmacies. Dr Turner said:

“It is still best to try to avoid covid infection wherever possible, or minimise the number of times you have it.

“Even if you do not develop severe symptoms from the initial infection you are still at risk of developing long covid, which can be debilitating.

“You are also at increased risk from cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes in the days and weeks following covid infection.”

Sue Peckitt, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group chief nurse and director of nursing and quality, added:

“There are still a significant number of people in our hospitals who have covid and it’s a stark reminder that coronavirus hasn’t gone away. This virus is still causing some people to become very unwell.”