Five coronavirus cases have been reported today in the Harrogate district by Public Health England.

The figure is down on yesterday’s 11 cases and takes the district’s total since the start of the pandemic to 7,601.

The seven-day average rate of infection now stands at 15 per 100,000 people in the district.

The North Yorkshire seven-day rate is 20 and the England average is 27.

No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital. The total since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

Read more:

• Visits for inpatients have been resumed at Harrogate District Hospital.
• Local residents welcome Pateley Bridge’s vaccination centre with open arms. 

A Harrogate man has died of a rare form of bone cancer at the age of just 24.

James Hindmarsh was diagnosed with  Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma last year and recently stopped receiving NHS treatment after several rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

In his final weeks, James’ friends and colleagues worked together to raise over £60,000 to pay for private treatment.

Four friends pledged to complete a number of challenges to raise funds. But unfortunately, James died before treatment could begin.

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James lived in Harrogate all his life and attended Ashville College.

Today, Ian Brown, president of the Ashvillian Society, the college’s alumni organisation, said:

“We are always saddened to learn of the death of an Old Ashvillian, and our thoughts and prayers go out to James’ parents, family and friends.

“I was so impressed with the spirit James showed both before, and especially during, his illness, and it’s devastating he lost his fight against the disease.”

Firefighters were called to help a toddler that got its head stuck in a toilet seat in Harrogate yesterday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the incident at Allotment Gardens yesterday afternoon at 5pm.

According to the incident summary, the crew advised the child’s mother to use soap to lubricate the area.

She was then able to remove the seat.

No other information was available at the time of publication.

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• Fire crews tackle house fire in North Rigton
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Harrogate Borough Council has defended its plans to ask staff to use public toilets in Knaresborough.

Staff at the council-run Knaresborough tourist information centre are due to move from their current location in the town library to the Courthouse Museum in the grounds of Knaresborough Castle in June.

Museum workers already use nearby public toilets on Cheapside because the ancient castle doesn’t have a drainage system.

Tourist information staff now face the same situation.

A council spokesperson said:

“Knaresborough Castle and the Courthouse Museum are ancient monuments, which do not have any drainage facilities. To install them would come at a significant cost along with a number of archaeological challenges.

“Therefore, employees are expected to use public toilets, which are located close by in Castle Yard.”

David Houlgate, branch secretary at Unison Harrogate has raised concerns, saying office workers having to use outdoor toilets should “definitely remain a thing of the past”.

He added:

“Whilst public toilets are OK if people are caught short when out and about in the town, they are not suitable to be the designated toilets for staff working in an indoor environment promoting the town and wider district.

“There is also no guarantee that they will be open when needed.”

Mr Houlgate said council bosses were pushing ahead with the planned move without addressing the “reasonable and legitimate” concerns of staff.

Unison has also raised concerns about disabled access at the museum.

Read more:

• Three of Harrogate district’s five council pools remain closed.
• At yesterday’s chamber meeting, council leader Richard Cooper said footfall in the town centre will decline without change.

The council spokesperson replied:

“The museum has level access to the rear of the building so that it can be accessed by everyone. Unfortunately, as a historic listed building with a number of internal and external steps, it is not possible to provide full access to the building.

“The welfare of our staff is paramount and we will continue to update them as plans progress and address any concerns they may have.”

The spokesperson added that moving the tourist centre into the heart of Knaresborough would provide a “better service” for visitors and residents.

Although the covers of some council-run swimming pool were rolled back yesterday, there is still no date when Knaresborough, Ripon and Starbeck pools will reopen.

Harrogate Borough Council has reopened The Hydro in Harrogate and Nidderdale Pool in Pateley Bridge.

But Knaresborough pool, which has been closed since the end of last year, remains shut as do pools in Ripon and Starbeck.

In its Residents’ News email sent yesterday, the council said Knaresborough pool required repairs and covid restrictions were still preventing Spanish engineers from travelling to fix the filtration equipment.

It said it was “highly unlikely the engineers will be given permission to travel any time soon” and added the council had been in talks with UK pool specialists and were “working up plans to completely replace the faulty equipment”. The newsletter said:

“This is likely to be a more costly solution, but we are keen to ensure our residents in the east of the district have easy access to a pool as soon as possible.”

Across the district in Ripon there is a similar story. The Spa Baths are currently up for sale and remain closed to the public.

A new Ripon pool and leisure centre development was scheduled for completion at the end of next month but has been delayed until November 2021.

The council told the Stray Ferret that further updates on the Ripon development would be released in the coming weeks.

There is also no news on the future of Starbeck Baths.

Read more:

• In response to a second FOI Harrogate Borough Council said the final costs of Ripon’s new leisure centre is not yet known. 
• Ripon councillors begin a campaign to reopen the Spa Baths. 

Harrogate District Hospital has today resumed visits for inpatients as part of the latest easing of lockdown restrictions.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust announced today all inpatients were allowed one visitor for 30 minutes each day.

Visits are allowed between 2-4pm for up to 30 minutes. Appointments must be booked in advance with wards.

Also from today, partners are allowed to attend all pregnancy scans.

But no visitors are allowed in the emergency department unless they are accompanying a child.

Read more:

• Locals welcome Pateley Bridge’s new vaccination centre as it opened this weekend. 
• Covid vaccine tally reached 90,000 in the Harrogate district. 

Patients who are classed as end of life, or have dementia or a learning disability, or have been in hospital for a long time will continue to have open and flexible visiting as before.

During the booking process visitors will be asked questions about covid symptoms, travel and requests to isolate. Visitors will also have to wear PPE whilst in the hospital.

To read the guidance in full, click here.

North Yorkshire Police has launched a drink-drive campaign today to coincide with pubs reopening.

The force is anticipating a surge in drink-driving now pubs are able to serve outdoors and is urging people thinking of going for a drink to use public transport or select a designated driver.

It is also encouraging people to report suspected drunk drivers.

In 2020, officers arrested 871 people for drink driving – an average of more than two a day.

There were 136 arrests in the first three months of this year, despite pubs being closed.

Police hope today’s new ‘be a hero, stay at zero’ campaign will encourage anyone driving to pubs to stick to soft drinks.

Roads policing sergeant Andrew Morton said:

“After months of being stuck at home, it is only natural that people will want to go out and celebrate the latest step in the roadmap to ease coronavirus restrictions.

“We’ll be out around the clock on the lookout for drink-driving so we urge people to enjoy their time in beer gardens safely. No drink is worth a fine, a ban, yours or even someone else’s life.”

Read more:

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Anyone with information about drink or drug driving is asked by the police to call 101 or, if it’s happening now, call 999.

Saint Michael’s Hospice and Cancer Research UK‘s charity shops in the Harrogate district will be opening their doors next week as they try to recover from financial losses during the pandemic.

The two charities rely heavily on money raised from the shops and are eager to reopen once more.

For local charity Saint Michael’s, most of its shops will reopen on Monday, while those in Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Jennyfield Drive and 149 King’s Road in Harrogate are reopening on Tuesday.

Donations can be dropped off on Tuesdays and Fridays each week but customers are advised to call the shop beforehand.

The donation drop-off point on Hookstone Wood Road is no longer in operation.

Saint Michael’s chief executive Tony Collins said:

“We’re pleased that our shops will now begin to reopen their doors from next Monday, giving those across the Harrogate district the opportunity to purchase a range of preloved items.

“Stringent health and safety measures will be in place in each of our shops, with the safety of our community, staff and volunteers at the forefront of our reopening plans.”

Read more:

• Knaresborough’s Yorkshire Cancer Research shop reopens.
• Two friends ‘Brave the Shave’ for Macmillan in Pateley Bridge.

The Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon Cancer Research UK stores also hope to welcome back plenty of customers to boost their finances.

The charity has predicted its fundraising income will decline by £300million over the next three years, due to the pandemic.

Ripon’s Cancer Research UK shop is looking forward to welcoming back shoppers

Anticipating a staycation boom, Cancer Research UK is asking for donations of men, women and children’s summer clothing. Any items can be dropped off in store.

Lisa Millett, Cancer Research UK spokesperson, said:

“Covid has hit us hard. That’s why we’re calling on everyone to please bag up and bring in any unwanted items.

“Right now, we need quality clothing, shoes, homewares, accessories and books to help keep our tills – and bargain hunters – busy. Most important of all, the sale of these items helps to ensure we can keep making progress for people with cancer.”

Hotels and restaurants in the Harrogate district are hiring new staff as bookings roll in ahead of the reopening tomorrow.

As of April 12, hospitality venues are allowed to open their outdoor seating areas, with many already fully booked.

During the pandemic the hospitality industry took a large hit, with forced closures spanning many months.

As well as the extra hands needed to meet demand, new staff have been brought in to replace those who left to find work elsewhere.

Wayne Topley, managing director of Cedar Court Hotels, said the company has been recruiting for months. The Harrogate hotel’s outdoor Tipi already has 150 bookings for the first few days of trade:

“We have a loyal team of great people who we are proud to say have ‘weathered the storm’ with us, but now as our hotel looks to reopen we are truly excited to be going out to market to find even more great people.

“We have been recruiting and we still are for the months ahead. It’s a great time to join our team to be part of something pretty special.”

Read more: 

• Demolition starts as former Harrogate college makes way for flats
• Harrogate district restaurants already fully booked ahead of reopening

Gill Richardson, landlady of The Bull Inn in West Tanfield, also said she was hoping to recruit more team members to manage the extra covid safety requirements facing pubs and restaurants over the coming months.

“We do need extra staff, we lost a few team members over the pandemic and policing the new guidelines will be difficult without more help.

“We’re nervous to open because it’s been so long but once we’ve got into the swing of things it’ll be really exciting.”

Martin Greenhow, managing director of MOJO group, said the company has lost some employees and would be hiring for the busy period.

“We are expecting this to be a very busy time and are really optimistic about the summer. But we will need to hire a number of new employees to cope with not only the loss of previous employees, but also to cope with table service requiring more staff and managing guidelines in a safe way.”

Campsites, caravan parks and holiday homes across the Harrogate district will reopen tomorrow.  With uncertainty over foreign travel, the UK staycation business is set for a bumper season.

Toni Fernandes, general manager of Lido Leisure Park in Knaresborough, says that their 500 holiday home owners are “dying to come back”.  Many have not been able to use their second homes since the November lockdown.

“We think over the next two years we’ll be very popular. There’ll be lots of holidays in our own country; I think it will be very good for the economy.”

Read More:

• Harrogate district restaurants already fully booked ahead of reopening.
• Did you make the cut? Beauticians predict full bookings for April.

Graham Thompson, general manager of the Harrogate Caravan Park has told the Stray Ferret that bookings have been “crazy busy”. The caravan park is now almost fully booked with bank holiday weekends totally booked out.

“There’s an appetite for people trying to get out of their houses and into the countryside. I think people will be staying in this country to holiday – I think we have a lot to offer.

We had a very successful year last year with lots of visitors saying they felt very safe.”

In Killinghall, Tanya Umpleby of The Cud Life campsite has been inundated with booking requests despite her website showing that her weekends are booked up.

“The demand has been much higher this year but when you’re full you’re full.

“We’re really looking forward to welcoming everyone back. Our regulars are already booked in and excited to return.”

The Cud Life are opening up both of their rental cottages and five caravans and open ten tent sites in July.