Harrogate International Festivals has awarded its prestigious crime novel award to Adrian McKinty for his book The Chain.

The Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year, hosted by Harrogate International Festivals, was awarded this evening to McKinty’s novel after the public and prize judges picked him out from a shortlist of six.

The author was close to giving up his writing career two years ago when his family was evicted from their home and he was working as an Uber driver and barman. McKinty was persuaded to give writing one final go, and he wrote his hugely successful novel The Chain.

His book has since been published in 36 countries with its movie rights sold in a seven figure deal. The plot centres around a chain of child abductions, where a child can only be released when its parent kidnaps another child.

Adrian McKinty was “gobsmacked” when he was announced as the winner of the prestigious award.

Adrian McKinty said:

“I am gobsmacked and delighted to win this award. Two years ago, I had given up on writing altogether and was working in a bar and driving an Uber, and so to go from that to this is just amazing. People think that you write a book and it will be an immediate bestseller. For twelve books, my experience was quite the opposite, but then I started this one.

“It was deliberately high concept, deliberately different to everything else I had written – and I was still convinced it wouldn’t go anywhere… but now look at this. It has been completely life changing.”

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The award marks the launch of the Harrogate International Festivals Weekender – a free virtual festival featuring performances and interviews with dozens of musicians and authors.

Adrian McKinty will receive £3,000 and an engraved oak beer cask, hand-carved by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakstons Brewery.

The McDonald’s restaurant in Ripon reopened its dine-in facility today with new safety measures in place.

The restaurant has introduced a limited customer capacity to avoid congestion inside. Customers are also expected to use hand sanitiser and follow any further measures the restaurant puts in place.

Customers can now order food directly to the table from an app or continue to use tills and kiosks. Food will be served using table-service only.

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Track and trace systems are also in place. Customers eating in will have to leave their contact details using their smartphone. If they visit in group, the lead member will have to leave their details plus the number of people dining together.

Measures that were previously in place, including perspex screens and reduced numbers of staff on shifts, will remain.

A £589 million investment has been announced to start works to upgrade and electrify the Transpennine main line between Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester.

This is the first stage of investment to streamline the northern route. The investment is for design and enabling works to take place.

This stage will include partial electrification of the route, a new through platform at Huddersfield, and about eight miles of extra four-tracking. The introduction of four tracks in some areas will allow fast trains to overtake slower ones and improve journey times and reliability for passengers across the North.

A new Northern Transport Acceleration Council will also be established to encourage better connection across Northern towns and cities. It will also give northern leaders a direct line to ministers to try to give passengers a reliable transport network.

Brian Dunsby from the Harrogate Line Supporters Group, said:

“We welcome any investment in the north it will be beneficial for commuters from Harrogate. We need the lines electrified around Harrogate, so I welcome announcements of this type but we’ll have to see the lines included in works as further announcements are made. A northern council is a positive step as long as they listen to the northern business community and local lobby groups.”

The council will be made up of mayors and council leaders and be chaired by Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary.

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The plans also include upgrades to replace thousands of diesel lorry journeys with electric freight trains.

This investment comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed over £720m investment in local transport in the North through the Transforming Cities Fund.

Boroughbridge junior football club is calling for more girls and disabled players to join its teams training resumes  next month.

The club has several successful teams but hopes to increase numbers in the girls and ability for all teams. The girls team need more members aged 7-13 years.

The ability for all team includes children with various disabilities. The club aims to support each child’s needs and give them the opportunity to play a sport that they may see as unattainable.

Each team plays in local junior leagues but children are welcome to train for fun if they don’t feel confident to play in a league straight away.

The club’s ability for all team are encouraged to enjoy the game regardless of disability.

Christopher Fahey, chairman and coach at the club, said:

“We’re currently looking to build our girls and disabled teams. For the girls teams we need girls aged 7-13 years to join and train with us. In time they could join our competing teams in the Harrogate League. If they don’t think they are ready for the league they can just come along and then train for fun.

“Our all abilities team usually trains together. The children have various disabilities and are all aged between 6-15 years. We tell everyone to just come down to train and we will support them.

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The club is hosting a free girls-only session to attract new players on August 1.

The club can be contacted via its facebook page or website.

Harrogate police have warned of an increase in fraudulent door to door sellers.

The force said it had received several reports of incidents this week. Some involved offers to clean driveways and gutters for payment in advance by people who did not then carry out the work. Others claimed to be part of an ex-offenders rehabilitation scheme.

The police urged people to check whether doorstep sellers held a pedlar’s certificate, which can be inspected to prove identity and nature of business.

The police are warning residents of a rise in incidents of fraudulent door to door sellers.

Andy Fox, financial abuse safeguarding officer, said:

“Don’t open the door without verifying their identity and don’t be afraid to ask them to leave or shut the door if you don’t want to engage. Call the police if you’re at all concerned. Be wary of anyone using high pressure sales techniques too.

“We often see a rise in these type of doorstep sellers at different times but there has definitely been an increase in reports of them across North Yorkshire recently.”

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The police have also suggested installing a door chair or peephole so residents can safely see outside without having to open their door.

To report suspicious doorstop sellers to the police call 101 or Trading Standards.

Knaresborough’s Frazer Theatre has said it will remain closed until 2021 because it is not possible to observe social distancing and be financially viable.

The theatre, which is just off the town’s high street, has a capacity of 127 people but with social distancing this number would decrease hugely.

It has therefore decided to put the safety of its audience and volunteers first and postpone reopening.

John Pearce, vice-chairman of Frazer Theatre, said it was financially secure and lucky to be able to stay closed with minimal expenses because it is run entirely by volunteers.

Rehearsals at the theatre, which staged about 180 performances last year, will therefore resume no earlier than March 2021.

Mr Pearce said:

“The number one concern is safety and until we’re 100% safe or as near to it as we can be we just aren’t going to risk it. One thing we wonder about is how quickly audiences will feel comfortable to return.

If we have to keep a metre between people we are essentially blocking nine chairs around every one and that would be really difficult to organise. We’ve gone through the guidance as it stands and the sad answer is until there’s almost no restrictions we won’t be able to open.

“It’s not a decision we took lightly but it’s been a tough time.”

This theatre is postponing its reopening until the full theatre experience can be enjoyed.

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The theatre is hopeful that restrictions will eventually ease enough to allow it to reopen. But it is concerned about the overall impact the pandemic could have on the arts in the district. Mr Pearce added:

“We hope that by Christmas things will have eased so we can plan for next year. We’d love to be able to open but we don’t want to go to the effort of booking shows and having to cancel them again and disappoint people.

“We know we’re blessed to be secure, it breaks our heart to know there are theatre groups and bigger theatres talking about shutting.”

North Yorkshire Police has urged dog owners to be more responsible after an increase in attacks on livestock.

The police issued the appeal after noticing an upturn in incidents in the Harrogate area over the last week.

More people are visiting the countryside as lockdown restrictions are eased, which has led to more dog attacks on sheep.

Inspector Matt Hagan, head of North Yorkshire’s rural taskforce, said:

“Owners need to stick to the countryside code and keep their dogs under control even if that means they have to stay on a lead. You are responsible for their behaviour so keep it under control. If your dog is involved in an incident please report it as a lot of the time the owner may see no-one and just head off but they do have a duty to report it.

“If you’re out and about and see anything please report it too because it’s difficult following these kinds of reports up, but if you report it at the time and it’s more likely we can do something.”

The police are asking dog owners to take responsibility for their dogs when out walking them in the countryside.

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One of the incidents reported to the police this month involved a husky which managed to run through a fence and chase sheep. Police officers were called to an incident on July 12 near Thruscross Reservoir, near Harrogate, by a farmer who reported a dog had attacked a lamb on his land.

The farmer accepted an apology from the dog’s owner and the police issued a community resolution. North Yorkshire’s rural police force are keen to highlight the financial and emotional impact these attacks can have on their livelihoods.

Hundreds of local residents have joined a Facebook group to campaign against Conyngham Hall being used as the site for Knaresborough’s new leisure centre.

The campaigners support Harrogate Borough Council’s plans to build a new swimming pool and gym in the town but would prefer to see the current leisure centre site on King James Road redeveloped.

Conyngham Hall is one of four proposed options for development. The current leisure centre site, Hay-a-Park and Knaresborough House are also under consideration.

Almost 600 people have joined a ‘Hands off Conyngham Hall’ Facebook page. Local resident Craig Arditto set up the page to share information and demonstrate to the council the strength of feeling against developing the historic hall.

He said:

“I didn’t expect it to grow as it has. Our aim is to protect Conyngham Hall from development, it’s an open space and brings in a lot of tourism. I think it would be a waste of the space if it was developed. I agree Knaresborough needs the facilities as a growing town and I am very supportive of the leisure centre plans but a redevelopment of the current site works better.

“The hall is outlined in plans which offer four options in Knaresborough. No site has been confirmed but ideally we want this site taken off the table.”

Campaigners want to protect Conyngham Hall’s green spaces.

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The hall is currently used as office space but its grounds are popular for leisure activities.

Hannah Gostlow, Knaresborough town councillor, said:

“I, along with many other residents in our town very much welcome the proposal of a new leisure centre for Knaresborough. However, I object to the proposal of building on this green space. I feel it would spoil the Conyngham Hall grounds and put too much pressure on already congested roads. I would prefer to see a new leisure centre developed on the footprint of the existing site.”

Harrogate Borough Council this month approved plans to overhaul its leisure centres by handing control to a new council-owned company called Brimham Active.

A council spokesman said:

“We are just at the start of the process to build a new combined leisure centre for Knaresborough following the decision to invest more than £26 million improving leisure facilities in Harrogate and Knaresborough. No decision has been taken on where the new leisure centre in Knaresborough would be, or what activities it would be offering.”

Six weeks of roadworks began this morning on the Leeds Road roundabout, leaving the area gridlocked throughout the day.

The works will be in place until August 28 to allow Northern Powergrid to carry out cable overlay works.

Two of the roundabout’s six exits on Langcliffe Avenue and Park Drive have been closed and traffic lights are in place on the others. This left many commuters stuck in traffic or having to take long diversions.

The roadworks are set to stay along Leeds Road for six weeks.

Similar works are taking place along Skipton Road over a 12-week period. Those works are in order for Northern Gas Networks to replace the old metal pipes running along the road. Richard White, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:

“This investment will ensure residents and businesses in Harrogate continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply for decades to come.

“We appreciate that no one likes roadworks, but we will be doing everything possible to complete this work as quickly as possible, while maintaining safe working practices.”

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The works come following several quieter months on the roads as many people worked from home. Following the Prime Minister’s announcements suggesting that people can return to work, the next six weeks are likely to involve much longer commutes.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire County Council for a comment on the works, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Harrogate’s “puppy boom” during lockdown has seen local people set up new businesses to capitalise on the new market.

More dogs and the needs of new pet owners has been the driving force for several new start-ups in Harrogate.

With more people working from home the number of puppy sales has increased. This is good news for local entrepreneurs who have been able to set up new businesses to work with the new dogs in the district.

New puppies increases the need for training, grooming and accessories – this has given a boost to business for three local business owners.

Holly Hamp has opened up Dog Spa Harrogate:

“I was working in a kennels and a lot of people aren’t going on holiday so it turned into the right time right place. There are a lot of people doing the same thing. People have been getting dogs over lockdown but there are concerns with that too. There has been a puppy boom which means people need their dogs grooming and walking especially as they return to work.”

Charlotte Wilson has put her work as a makeup artist on pause so instead set up a business making personalised dog accessories. She said:

“Its all based around personalisation anything from dog treats, bowls, treat baskets. It has been really successful, I didn’t think it would go that well. I am wanting to grow it with staff, eventually we hope to sell more each day to employ people that had lost their jobs. A lot of people have just got a new dog so want to spoil it with new products. People are just mad about them! I’d never tried it before but I have three dogs and I thought what do I love and that was dogs, so I ordered the printer and set it all up.”

Katie Bell has resumed her career as a dog trainer after seeing a niche for owners with new puppies over lockdown.

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Katie Bell has trained as a dog behaviouralist but worked as a dog walker until lockdown when she saw a niche for new owners needing to train their dogs. She said:

“Since lockdown I knew there would be a lot of dogs needing help specifically with separation anxiety as their owners return to work. I am getting another dog soon so I have set up a facebook group to provide regular training videos for people to follow at home. My enquiries have massively increased, I think since people have been at home more they have realised their dog or new puppy has behavioural issues. Now the rules have eased I am able to do training in people’s gardens or indoors and I think that will only increase.”

Holly Hamp has set up a dog groomers in Harrogate after seeing the need for dog services grow.