A cat from Harrogate has been found after four months in Poppleton, more than 20 miles from his home. One theory is that he caught the train..

Jasper, the black cat, lived with his owners in Harrogate, who adopted him from Harrogate Cat Rescue.

He was last seen on May 13 but was found again this weekend when his owners got a call from a York vet.

Jasper had found his way to Poppleton and was taken in by a family in June. The family mistook him for a pregnant female and took him to the vets this weekend.

When his microchip was scanned they learnt he had been reported missing.

His owner, Anna Whitehouse, said:

“It still feels so surreal having him back. It was heartbreaking at first when he didn’t remember me or his name. We never used to let him out at night but over lockdown it was so much quieter so we did.

When the Minster Vets in York rang us over the weekend it was amazing, we’d spoke the week before about stopping his insurance because he’d been gone so long.If only we had a camera to know what he’d been doing.”

Jasper had been missing for 19 weeks in total. His owners had searched for him for weeks during lockdown and put appeals on local social media groups. Only to find out he never was in Harrogate.

From being in his owner’s art studio to lounging in the sun in Poppleton, Jasper’s lockdown adventure will remain a mystery.

While many of us were having an uneventful lockdown. Jasper had gone on a summer getaway to Poppleton.

Phil Brierley found the cat in June and he became a part of his family. He said:

“He kept hanging round our door and he looked desperate and hungry – he really was on his last legs. I am a die hard Leeds football fan, so even though we thought he was a girl, we called him Bielsa. He was very skittish at the beginning but after a few weeks he was happy to come sit with you.

We were disappointed to send him back because he’s got a great character but I was delighted he had a family that had been missing him.”

Mr Brierley is certain Jasper jumped on the train near his home by Hornbeam Park station and “popped off at Poppleton”.

Neither family will ever know what happened to Jasper on his travels but both are happy he’s safe and sound, once again.

A Harrogate-based equality initiative is launching a campaign to get rid of the stereotype that beer is a man’s drink.

The Beer Glass Project, which is being run by the community interest company Women On Tap, aims to showcase beer as aesthetic and indulgent rather than something “guzzled in a laddish manner”.

Women on Tap will post photos, key facts and articles on social media during the five-week campaign that sets out to challenge perceptions of beer – how it looks, tastes and who it’s for.

A report by women and beer interest group Dea Latis revealed the UK has one of the lowest percentages of female beer drinks in the world at 17%.

The report identified barriers that put women off drinking beer, including male-orientated advertising, judgement from others and the calorie content.

Women On Tap founder Rachel Auty said:

“We need a reset button to enable us to stamp out inequality so that beer is accessible to all.

“We need to change the way it is represented, talked about and marketed.”

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A different style of glassware will be used to present the beer throughout the project.

Rachel added:

“Women want great glassware and are more likely to choose a drink that is presented in a beautiful and aspirational way. Women are strong and independent and they will choose a drink that helps them make a bold statement about who they are.

“I hope to make more women realise there really is no better way to do that than with a great beer in a fabulous glass.”

To a further 19 positive coronavirus cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, which is the highest increase in three weeks.

Today’s number is the highest since 21 new infections were reported on September 7.

Harrogate District Hospital recorded its first coronavirus death in 72 days today. The total is now at 83 since March.

The infection figures released by Public Health England today take the district’s total since March to 1,021.

In recent weeks the cases have been increasing following low numbers during the summer months. Yesterday, the number of cases in the district exceeded 1000 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hospital reports in first covid death in over two months. 
• Harrogate and Knaresborough MP has said he will support his constituents desperate to see their relatives in care homes. 

A comedy night, which raised £13,000 last year for a fund set up in memory of a 14-year-old Harrogate schoolboy, will be staged online this year.

Frank Ashton’s family set up Frank’s Fund to raise awareness and funds for Ewing’s sarcoma, which is a rare form of bone cancer,

A comedy night at St Aidan’s school in Harrogate last year raised over £13,000 for the fund, which has achieved total donations of £158,000 so far.

The comedian Maisie Adam, who like Frank attended St Aidan’s, performed at the event and is a patron of the charity. This year’s online event is set to go ahead before the end of the year although a date has yet to be confirmed.

The charity has missed several fundraising events this year due to Covid.

Supporters have found other ways to raise funds, such as running a marathon throughout the month of September.

Maisie Adam, who is among those running marathons, said:

“It’s all about keeping Frank at the forefront of people’s minds. I am devastated the plan isn’t going ahead in Harrogate.”

Maisie is one of several people running a marathon this month to raise money for Frank’s Fund.

She added:

“What shocked me in particular is just how underfunded Ewing’s sarcoma is. Everyone assumes when money is donated to big charities it is distributed evenly but it definitely isn’t.

With Frank’s Fund, all of the money goes to research for this disease.”

To support Maisie’s marathon, click here.

Read more:

• An ice cream shop in Knaresborough has been doing its bit to raise money for Frank’s Fund. 
• Women, from Harrogate and Knaresborough, will swim the English channel for charity. 

A 20-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were arrested in Harrogate on Saturday after being found carrying large quantities of class A drugs.

North Yorkshire Police said the pair were seen acting suspiciously in the Library Gardens area of town.

Officers from the force’s Operation Expedite team, which tackles drug crime, stopped the males.

A large quantity of suspected heroin and crack cocaine was seized and the pair were arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

The 20-year-old was later released on bail and the 16-year-old released while under investigation. The police said enquiries are continuing.

This arrest was part of North Yorkshire Police’s attempts to disrupt county lines drug dealing.

The drugs found on the pair were suspected class A drugs.

Read more:

• The police have released footage of a high speed chase through Knaresborough. 
• During its week-long crackdown on county lines activities North Yorkshire Police made 15 arrests and visited 64 vulnerable people. 

County lines dealing is when dealers travel from outside the county to bring drugs into its towns. Vulnerable and young people are often forced to sell the drugs.

To report information of drug dealing in the area, call North Yorkshire Police on 101. To remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or contact them online here.

Rossett School in Harrogate has confirmed one of its sixth form students has tested positive for coronavirus.

The year 12 student will now isolate at home for 14 days. A further 30 year 12 students have been identified as being in close, prolonged contact with the student and have also been asked to isolate.

The school said its sixth form centre has had a “deep enhanced” clean after being identified as the only area used by the student concerned.

The school added all other pupils could return to school.

Parents and guardians received a letter from the school this weekend to remind them of the protocol if a child develops symptoms.

Helen Woodcock, the headteacher, said:

“In our preparation for reopening we planned for a variety of scenarios, we were well-rehearsed and prepared for it. We followed all the necessary national guidance and protocols.

“We have checked that the child is safe at home with their family. The last three weeks have been a fantastic reminder of the importance of education in the lives of our young people.

“We have reinforced with the students the need for them to consider what they do outside of school, where they go and who they see, and how they can contribute to limiting the spread of the virus.”

Ms Woodcock added staff training and school hygiene rules were also in place to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Yesterday, a further 11 cases of Covid were reported in the Harrogate district.

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• Ripon Grammar School reports a covid case. 
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A plaque to commemorate the UCI World Championships under 23s riding through Boroughbridge was unveiled yesterday.

One year ago the town was preparing for the cyclists to arrive. The streets were decorated with bunting and plywood bike sculptures were placed at various locations.

The team that organised the day’s event thought a blue plaque would create a legacy for the day. It was fitted in the centre of town near the new cycle racks at Havenhands The Bakers shop.

Susan Jagger, a member of the legacy organising team, said:

“We’d never had the big cycling events come through the town before. We spent six months preparing how to welcome the cyclists properly.

“Boroughbridge is a very popular cycling centre and it is fitting to have a reminder that our town was a part of this prestigious International event.”

Last year the local shops took part in the celebrations by decorating their windows.

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• A blue plaque to commemorate Harrogate’s efforts to support the Spitfire campaign during World War Two is now in place. 
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The team planned to unveil the plaque in April alongside the mayor and Team GB cyclists but, due to the pandemic, it had to be postponed.

The unveiling yesterday was carried out by last year’s mayor, Cllr Geoff Haldenby, who helped with the UCI celebrations last year.

A Harrogate woman has sent a letter to the government urging ministers to change the care home restrictions which she says are harming her father’s mental health.

Judy Bass’s father lives in a care home and she hasn’t seen him since March.

Her father, who has dementia, needs constant care and she argues that his mental health is continuing to deteriorate without visits from his family.

Judy has joined  ‘Rights for Residents’ – a group campaigning for a change to current restrictions. Their petition has over 125,000 signatures.

Judy, alongside others in the group, have sent letters to Helen Whateley, Minister for Care, saying:

“Current guidelines will not protect residents from the risks of contracting the virus but they will continue to heighten the risks of them dying from loneliness, depression and other damaging mental health conditions.”

Judy Bass and her brother would visit their dad every day before March. She said:

“I just feel like I’ve let him down. What’s he living for at the moment? Hardly anything. He will just give up.”

Judy and her father, a few years ago.

In the letter the group asks why the government cannot try to alleviate some of the distress placed on residents and their families.

“Why have the Government not found a more humane and nuanced solution that balances the risk of contracting Covid-19 against the devastating mental and physical deterioration we are witnessing?”

The letters ask the government to:

• Develop a detailed plan with clear guidelines to ensure care home residents are reunited with their families.
• Remove the burden of responsibility from individual care home managers to decide on visiting policies as they are frozen by the fear of litigation.
• Support care providers and home managers with tests for relatives and public liability indemnity for care home providers as it has done for the NHS.

The Prime Minister’s announcements suggest that restrictions could continue for a further six months. This would mean Judy wouldn’t see her father for a year.

She added:

“He may not have much time left, he is 99. I can’t get my brain around not seeing him for a year. I don’t think I am any more risk than his care workers who are still going out.”

Read more:

• County council bosses have said restrictions will have to be put on care homes following an increase in covid cases.
• Harrogate mum says testing system is “broken”.

Coronavirus figures released today show a further 11 positive cases in the Harrogate district.

This number takes the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 993. Today’s numbers are an increase on the eight confirmed cases yesterday.

These further cases will be monitored by North Yorkshire County Council, it recently announced it was reinstating its “major incident status”.

A mobile testing site was in place in Harrogate on Friday and will return again tomorrow. The testing site operates on Dragon Road car park from 11am to 3pm.

Read more:

• Harrogate Lib Dems have said the Chancellor’s new initiatives to protect jobs is “too little too late”.
• Last week the county council confirmed five schools in the district had confirmed covid cases. 

A further eight positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

Today’s figures from Public Health England take the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 982.

This is the first weekend bars and restaurants in England will have to close by 10pm. Boris Johnson announced the curfew in an attempt to prevent further increases in cases.

Yesterday, further restrcitions were announced for Leeds. Household mixing within houses and gardens is now banned and socialising in indoor venues such as pubs is strongly advised against.

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• Further measures to help workers and hospitality business owners were announced by the Chancellor this week. 
• Measures to ban some indoor sports have left coaches worrying players may not return next year.