Julia Mulligan, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, has published her first expenses since lockdown.

The latest data shows she claimed virtually no expenses from June to August, when lockdown caused many events to be cancelled.

Ms Mulligan’s highest claims are for a £373 two-night hotel stay and a £282 train ticket.

The two items are included in her May expenses, when her total monthly claims were £738.52, but relate to a pre-lockdown trip to London in early March.

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A spokesman for the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner said the tickets were purchased on 6 March for a visit to London the following week.

The spokesman said the £373 for hotel accommodation was for two nights and the £282 for rail travel was the cost of a standard class open return to London from Skipton.

Budget hotel

Ms Mulligan said she spent three days in London where she gave evidence to the Home Affairs Committee about North Yorkshire’s progress on workforce diversity, met the family of a serious case of online grooming and represented victims of serious sexual offences at a national meeting seeking improvements in the criminal justice system. She added:

“Unfortunately, as with many meetings at Westminster, the details for Home Affairs Committee were not confirmed in time for us to book advance tickets so we had to pay full fare, standard class tickets.

“Similarly, the cost of two nights accommodation in Westminster, booking last minute, does not come cheap, notwithstanding my staying in a budget hotel.

“It is my job to stand up for North Yorkshire, for our dedicated police officers and for victims of crime – and the cost of these meetings is an investment worth making to ensure our voice is heard.”

Ms Mulligan was accused of ‘extravagant spending’ on hotels and train fares last year by transparency campaigner Gwen Swinburn for claiming nearly £1,000 in eight weeks on her credit card,

Ms Mulligan replied that she always tried to achieve best value.

Ms Mulligan holds her next monthly public accountability meeting online at 1pm on Tuesday next week.

It will focus on the fire and police services’ response to coronavirus. People can watch live and submit questions.

The details are here.

Not-for-profit organisations, including schools and parish councils, are being invited to apply for grants of between £500 and £4,000 for food projects that improve the lives of young people in Yorkshire.

The Bettys and Taylors Family Fund has provided funding for the initiative, which opened for applications this week.

Organisations have until November 9 to submit bids.

Examples of eligible projects include cookery courses, food hygiene training and healthy eating initiatives.

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The fund supports food schemes because food is key to the business of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate.

The guidance notes for organisations interested in applying say the fund “actively encourages applications to include costs for overheads (staff, rent, equipment, utilities etc.) that the project will incur”.

Organisations from all of Yorkshire can submit bids to York-based Two Ridings Community Foundation, which is distributing the funding.

Schools can only bid for projects that fall outside their curricular activities.

Contact Two Ridings Community Foundation on 01904 929500 for further information.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the theft of a car amid dramatic scenes in Ripon city centre today.

A silver Ford Galaxy was reported stolen from a house in the city just before 11am this morning.

Police found the car abandoned at about 12.15pm. A police spokesperson said:

“A number of people were seen running from it. Air support was called in from the police helicopter, and officers on the ground continued to search the immediate area.

“By 1pm, four people had been arrested, all on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. “

The suspects, who include a man in his 20s and three teenagers, remain in custody. The car is undergoing forensic checks.

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The NHS Spitfire is due to fly over Harrogate District Hospital at 11.51am this morning.

The aircraft was scheduled to pass over the town last week but its mission was aborted due to bad weather.

With the weather set fair, today’s journey will hopefully go ahead.

The aircraft, which has the words ‘Thank U NHS’ on its undercarriage, has so far raised more than £90,000 from its flypasts for NHS Charities, which is a federation of 250 charities that support the NHS.

Donors can nominate a name to be written on the aircraft’s airframe. There is room for 80,000 names.

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• Eyes to the skies as spitfire flies over Harrogate hospital
• Mission aborted: No Harrogate hospital NHS Spitfire flypast

The aircraft was due to have left Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire at 10am today.

From there it was scheduled to fly over hospitals in Wakefield, Leeds and Bradford before arriving in Harrogate and then head on to York, Northallerton, Darlington and Teesside.

Bilton Working Men’s Club is filing a claim for loss of earnings caused by the long-running roadworks outside its premises on Skipton Road.

Northern Gas Networks began work replacing metal pipes with plastic pipes beneath the road on 13 July.

Four-way traffic lights in the area have caused tailbacks not only on Skipton Road but also on adjoining King’s Road and Woodfield Road.

Alan Huddart, the club treasurer, said the work had made it more difficult for people to get to the club, which reopened after lockdown on 4 July, and some had assumed it was closed. Mr Huddart added:

“We have received a compensation pack and will be submitting a claim. The roadworks have had a dire impact.

“They’ve probably reduced our takings by 20 per cent.”

The roadworks immediately outside Bilton Working Men’s Club.

Chris Reed, site manager at Northern Gas Networks, said:

“We want to apologise to Bilton Working Men’s Club for any impact that our works have had as the project progresses. We will work with them to resolve any compensation claim.”

Mr Reed said the project had been delayed because the old pipes, some of which were 70 years old, were deeper than the plans indicated.

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The roadworks are now expected to finish by the end of November but the worst delays could be over.

Richard White, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:

“The temporary traffic lights have been removed at the junctions of Skipton Road with Woodfield Road, and of Skipton Road with King’s Road.

“There are two-way traffic lights still in place on Skipton Road, and these are now away from the junction and are near Jewson builders’ merchants. We expect these two-way, and three-way temporary traffic lights at junctions with side roads, to move along Skipton Road as the project progresses.”

The chief executive of Ripon charity Dementia Forward has warned that a second national lockdown would heighten distress for people with dementia and their families.

Jill Quinn, whose charity provides services across North Yorkshire, acknowledged the government faced difficult decisions about how to respond to rising levels of infections.

But she said the impact of the first lockdown and ongoing restrictions had already had serious implications for dementia sufferers.

Jill Quinn, chief executive of Dementia Forward.

Speaking on World Alzheimer’s Day today, Ms Quinn said:

“Dementia is a progressive illness but the restrictions have caused faster deterioration.

“People are also struggling to get a diagnosis.

“There isn’t a solution – or if there is I can’t see it. We’ve just got to keep going.”

Ms Quinn said Dementia Forward had lost between £50,000 and £100,000 of fundraising this year due to events being cancelled.

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Fundraising accounts for about half of the charity’s income. The other half is derived from providing services for North Yorkshire County Council.

The charity, which had 4,000 families on its books at the time of lockdown, furloughed six of its 29 staff.

It has had to postpone weekly pop-up wellbeing cafes and day services.

This loss of services has had detrimental effects on beneficiaries, many of whom don’t understand the rules on social distancing and hand hygiene.

Ms Quinn said:

“We are receiving more and more calls from people in distress. We just have to keep doing what we can, which is really limited right now.

“But there’s no doubt we are stashing up problems for the future.”

Harrogate’s town centre is at a critical crossroads.

The town has an enviable reputation as a destination for beautiful scenery, good bars and restaurants and independent shops.

But many businesses in the town are struggling. Many were under pressure before coronavirus – the Stray Ferret has reported on several well-loved local businesses ceasing to trade.

So what do you think should be done to improve the town’s fortunes? We want as many people as possible to fill in what will be the most comprehensive survey of its kind on how you use Harrogate town centre and what you think can help revive its economy.

We would like to hear views not only from Harrogate residents but also people in nearby places such as Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Masham who use Harrogate for work and leisure.

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The survey takes about 10 minutes and everyone who takes part will be entered into a prize draw with free gifts – a Stray Ferret umbrella or a 12 pack of special Stray Ferret beer brewed by Harrogate-based Roosters. You have to be over 18 to fill in the survey.

The survey results, which will be published on our website, will help shape the debate.

Click here to have your say on your town.

The number of compensation claims paid for potholes in the county has shrunk considerably over the last two years.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed it had paid nine claims worth £5,431 in 2018/19 and just one worth £55 in 2019/20.

By contrast, it paid 36 claims worth £16,435 in 2017/18, 10 claims worth £1,720 in 2016/17 and 27 claims worth £21,876 in 2015/16. The statistics were revealed after the Stray Ferret submitted a Freedom of Information request.

Road users did not know why the number of claims has decreased.

Kevin Douglas, chairman of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said roads were in a poor condition, which had caused damage and accidents.

He added:

“A number of cyclists have made claims and been unsuccessful and have given up. Perhaps people think there is no point.”

A spokesman for the Alliance of British Drivers, which campaigns on behalf of drivers, acknowledged potholes were a greater problem for cyclists than motorists but added:

“Councils should do something about potholes because they are a danger.”

A North Yorkshire County Council spokeswoman said it hadn’t changed its approach to contesting pothole claims, and said there were still 60 ongoing cases for 2019/20.

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Ten more people in the Harrogate district have contracted coronavirus, according to the latest daily figure by Public Health England.

The figure takes the total number of cases in the district to 910.

Despite the increase, Harrogate was not among the places in North Yorkshire to be named as ‘areas of concern’ by Public Health England yesterday.

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Everywhere covered by Selby District Council and Scarborough Borough Council were identified as areas of concern due to a rise in coronavirus cases.

North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a group of organisations that coordinates the county’s response to coronavirus, said this week it was concerned about rising infection rates in Harrogate.

But the town has so far been spared any extra measures amid rising concerns nationally about the increase in infections.

A new French-inspired furniture shop is due to open in Killinghall today.

Once Upon A Time, which is being run by two friends, will also sell flowers, candles, coffee and homemade cakes.

Tina Parker, who lived in France for several years, said she and Sian Ross “could possibly be mad” for opening at such a difficult time.

But she thought the impact of coronavirus had made people more appreciative of small independent shops. She added:

“People missed their local shops when they closed and are more willing to support them.

“We want it to be a destination shop where people come and have a coffee and pick up a gift besides looking at the furniture.”

The interior of the new shop

Ms Parker previously owned French Loveliness, which was also in Killinghall and closed last year. The new shop is about 100 metres along Lund Lane, towards Hampsthwaite.

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Ms Parker and Ms Ross, from Summerbridge, share a passion for French-style design.

Their shop will be open from Wednesday to Sunday each week.