Vicky Carr, Author at The Stray Ferret

Knaresborough luxury car dealer faces 16 fraud charges

The owner of a car dealership in Knaresborough has appeared in court charged with 16 counts of fraud amounting to more than £1 million.

Andrew Mearns, 54, is alleged to have committed the offences at Gmund Cars in Knaresborough between August 2016 and March 2019.

Sixteen different victims were named in the charges, with the largest individual fraud said to be worth £220,000.

Mr Mearns, whose current address was given as Colwyn Place, Llandudno, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court this morning to face the charges.

Wearing a white shirt and grey trousers, he spoke to confirm his name and address but did not enter pleas to the 16 counts of fraud by false representation.

Prosecutor Alison Whitely told the court the alleged offences took place over a “considerable period” while Mr Mearns owned and ran Gmund, a company dealing luxury cars.

Magistrates said the case was too serious for them to deal with and told Mr Mearns he would face trial at York Crown Court. His first appearance there was set for June 26.

Headteachers unite to warn of vaping dangers to children in Harrogate district

Headteachers from across the Harrogate district have issued a joint letter to all parents warning of the dangers of vaping.

The unusual move by secondary school leaders was prompted by “an increase in the number of incidents in our local community”, the letter said.

The heads of Boroughbridge High, Harrogate College, Harrogate Grammar, Harrogate High, King James’s, Nidderdale High, Ripon Grammar, Rossett, Springwell, St Aidan’s and St John Fisher schools have all put their names to the letter, which says:

“We are aware that there have been reports of young people becoming unwell and needing medical attention after using vapes.

“Vapes can come in a variety of different forms, shapes, and sizes. Some common styles of vapes include ones which look like a thick pen or highlighter pen.

“These devices are usually very small and can be concealed on a person or blend in with school/college equipment, therefore they can be easily mistaken or missed.”

Respiratory problems

The letter warns that vaping from a young age may lead to respiratory problems in later life, and recent research shows children could be inhaling unsafe amounts of lead and nickel. There have been reports of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis, being used in vaping, the letter said.

The headteachers also said young people could view vaping as a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes, but the nicotine is still addictive.

The letter points parents towards information from Ash, Kids Health, and West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, and says anyone with concerns can speak to their child’s school. It concludes:

“We are sure that you agree that the possession and use of vapes on any school/college premises is something that we simply cannot tolerate.

“Any student found in possession of a vape will be subject to a serious school/college sanction, including the risk of suspension. Please note that we will report possession of any illegal substances to the police.

“We hope that you welcome this letter in the spirit with which it is intended and that you share and understand our shared concerns about this potentially harmful issue.

“We want to be open about the risks involved and we encourage you to have a conversation with your child about this subject matter.”

Hope for tourism boost as John Cleese heads to Comic-Con in Harrogate

One of Britain’s best-known comedy names will be in Harrogate next weekend as thousands of fans descend for the annual Comic-Con Yorkshire.

John Cleese is among the line-up of celebrities appearing at the Yorkshire Event Centre gathering, on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4.

The Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star will be joined by actors from Gremlins, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Netflix hit Wednesday – and the town’s tourism managers are hoping to capitalise on the event.

Destination Harrogate‘s events arm, Events Harrogate, is launching its Town Welcome programme of activity, alongside local businesses, designed to encourage people to explore outside the event.

Attendees at Comic-Con will be able to pick up comic-style guides to Harrogate which will include details about places to visit, discounts to use with local businesses, and even a cosplay competition.

Cold Bath Brewing on King’s Road will be hosting an official after-party for Comic-Con, complete with give specially-brewed beers.

John McGivern, destination events manager for Destination Harrogate, said:

“We’re delighted that Harrogate has been chosen as the location for Comic-Con Yorkshire 2023 and look forward to welcoming this fun and dynamic, family-friendly event to our fantastic town.

“It’s testament to Harrogate’s position as a first class events destination that our patch was picked for Comic-Con Yorkshire.

“Our Town Welcome activity will encourage event attendees to make the most of their time here in North Yorkshire, and offers a great opportunity for our local business community to get on board with extending the Comic-Con party beyond the event itself. We’re really pleased that so many businesses are supporting the Town Welcome programme.”

If this year’s event is a success, Destination Harrogate is hoping Comic-Con organiser Monopoly Events will make it a regular feature in the events calendar.

Heather Parry, managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre, said:

“We are delighted to be hosting Comic-Con at the Yorkshire Event Centre for the first time and we know organisers chose our venue because of its potential for growth.

“Comic-Con will bring thousands of visitors into the area from across the UK which will not only benefit the charity we help fund, Yorkshire Agricultural Society, but also Harrogate and the local area. We are sure this is set to be a spectacular event.”

Meet the local man behind a new Turkish restaurant in Harrogate

A young Harrogate man is taking his first solo steps in the family trade by launching a new restaurant.

Along with two business partners, Hakan Aydin has set up Efes Bar and Grill on the site formerly occupied by Fashion House Bistro on the corner of Swan Road.

It may be a new venture, but it is far from a new career for Hakan, whose father ran restaurants and gave him his first hospitality job. Hakan said:

“My dad is my role model. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

Hakan was raised in Harrogate, attending Harrogate High School, and still lives in the town, along with his brother and parents.

Since leaving school, the 29-year-old has travelled extensively, including a memorable spell teaching English to locals in Turkey:

“I had to have a fake name because it needed to sound English. Steven Gerrard is my hero, so I was Steven.”

When home from travelling, Hakan was working with his father, who ran Istanbul Bar and Grill in Harrogate and is now based at Rubins on Cheltenham Parade.

It was his father who suggested the location for Hakan’s first restaurant and the turnaround has been quick: just three weeks from getting the keys to opening the doors.

Alongside business partners Yusef and Mehmet, responsible for front-of-house and kitchen respectively, Hakan is determined to make a success of a unit that has changed hands repeatedly in recent years.

The trio are adding more outdoor seating with a decking area at the front overlooking Swan Road, and have developed an extensive menu of Turkish and Mediterranean dishes.

They are confident there is space in the local market for what they offer, even though there are several established Mediterranean restaurants in Harrogate already, because Hakan believes people want to revisit a style of dining they have enjoyed on holiday.

Yusef and Hakan

The food at Efes is already going down well. Hakan’s friends from playing football and squash, along with people he knows from the gym, were among the first customers when Efes quietly opened its doors at the weekend.

Having already introduced himself to neighbours around Swan Road, Hakan has welcomed a few into the restaurant this week. He hopes it will become a regular spot for locals, as well as attracting visitors to the nearby Harrogate Convention Centre.

He said:

“Even if you don’t want to come for something to eat, just come for a conversation and a coffee. I like to meet different people of different backgrounds.

“I’d like to think people will come here as guests or customers and leave as friends.”

Efes – named after the ancient Turkish town Ephesius – will be open daily from noon until 10pm. Hakan, Yusef and Mehmet will be there every day, along with a small team of staff who Hakan hopes to give the same help into a career in hospitality that he had as a child.

He also wants the restaurant to give something back to his home town. He said:

“I love this town. I wanted something to link my heritage with my town.

“I’ve been lucky to travel the world – places like Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Greece – but I wouldn’t swap Harrogate for the world. If Harrogate wins, I win.”

Trans-Pennine Run cancelled as organisers seek new Harrogate venue

A popular event that has been held in Harrogate for more than 50 years will not return this summer.

The Trans-Pennine Run, first staged in 1969, sees dozens of historic vehicles driven from Greater Manchester to Harrogate.

Residents and visitors would flock to the Stray along Oatlands Drive to look around the vans, lorries, buses and other vehicles after their arrival.

However, in 2019 the Stray was left unusable by heavy rain, leading the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society, which organises the event, to seek an alternative site.

It found a home at the Yorkshire Event Centre, on the Great Yorkshire Showground, and returned there in 2022 after a two-year break during the covid pandemic.

But this year, event chairman Chris Sant told supporters:

“The management of the Yorkshire Events Centre have informed us that the large area of hard standing that we have in past years used for the finish will not be available this year.

“I contacted them in early January to request the use of the site, and after confirming receipt of my request it [took] over two months to inform us that the area will be unavailable, leaving us too little time to find an alternative.”

Mr Sant said he was hopeful it would be possible to hold the Trans-Pennine Run again in 2024 and was working to find another location for the vehicles to convene at the end of the route.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Event Centre said no agreement had been made to use the venue this year, adding:

“We stepped in to help organisers two days before the Trans-Pennine Run in 2019 when their original site at the Stray was waterlogged. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to covid and an agreement was made for it to be held again at the showground in 2022.

“Unfortunately, no agreement was put in place for 2023 and the area is now under offer for another event.”

Witness appeal after collision near Ripon leaves driver with serious injuries

A woman has been left with serious injuries after a collision between two vehicles in Studley Roger near Ripon.

A white Citroen car and a white Volkswagen Crafter van were travelling in opposite directions on Limekiln Bank when they collided at around 2.05pm on Monday.

The driver of the Citroen suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“We are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen the collision itself, or either vehicle immediately prior to them colliding, along with any dashcam footage.”

Anyone with information should contact PC Michael Spittlehouse by emailing Michael.spittlehouse@northyorkshire.police.uk or calling 101 and asking for him, using incident number 12230092030.

Call for entries as In Bloom contest returns across Harrogate

Hotels, pubs, restaurants, care homes and communities are being called on to be part of a floral competition in Harrogate for the first time since before the pandemic.

Harrogate in Bloom (HIB) has launched its annual contest for businesses and community organisations this summer.

It will be the first time the competition has been run in full since 2019, after being called off in 2020.

HIB member Mary Mann, who helps to organise the competition, told the Stray Ferret:

“We couldn’t meet or go round to see the gardens during covid.

“We did a small competition last year, but we’re determined it’s going to get back to normal this year. We used to have masses of entries before covid.”

The competition has four categories: bars and restaurants, hotels and guesthouses, residential communities, and communal gardens.

The latter is aimed at public places such as churches which have outside space, while residential communities are often blocks of flats with communal gardens.

The size of the garden is not important in any of the categories – the judges will be looking at the way the space is maintained and the use of flowers, including those in containers.

Each entrant will be judged against RHS criteria and given an award for the standard it achieves, from a certificate of merit up to a gold award. A winner will be announced in each category in September.

Judging will be carried out by Chris Beard and Roger Brownbridge, both experienced Yorkshire in Bloom and Harrogate in Bloom judges.

To find out more about the competition, or enter by the deadline of June 30, click here.

Meanwhile, Harrogate is also gearing up for judging in the regional Yorkshire in Bloom contest.

Members of HIB and other organisations have been working hard to ensure the town is shown off at its best over the summer, maintaining its long tradition of success in floral competitions.

Harrogate BID, meanwhile, has been selected for Britain in Bloom after winning gold in last year’s Yorkshire Contest. The business organisation will be supported by members of HIB to prepare for judging.

New Ripon homes given to families on council waiting list

Three new council houses built on the site of former garages in Ripon are now being occupied by local families, the council has announced.

North Yorkshire Council said the homes, in Holmefield Road, have been allocated to people on the waiting list for houses.

They each have two or three bedrooms and feature air source heat pumps, solar panels and triple glazing, producing between 0.2 and 0.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year compared with the six tonnes produced by an average home.

Claire Edwards, who will move into one of the houses with partner Sharon this weekend, has been a council tenant for 32 years. She said:

“This is the first time I have moved into a brand new house and I can’t wait to get there. I am literally moving round the corner, but we are downsizing, which gives someone else a chance to be rehoused, too. They are lovely homes – I feel very lucky.”

The houses are the latest to be developed in a scheme which uses council-owned land used to create new homes, which are then let as social housing.

Almost 60 homes across Harrogate and Craven have been developed through the scheme in the last five years using £2.3 million of government funding. A further nine homes are being developed in the Harrogate district: seven in Harrogate and two in Sharow.

The three Ripon homes are the first to be occupied since North Yorkshire Council took responsibility for housing when Harrogate Borough Council, which had originally granted planning permission, was abolished at the end of March.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for housing, Cllr Simon Myers, said:

“These are the first new social rented affordable homes delivered by North Yorkshire Council and are part of an on-going programme to make a big difference to the lives and well-being of local families.

“Across the county there are plots of unused land – particularly garages that are too small to be used for cars and end up overgrown, derelict and a haven for anti-social behaviour. Many of these areas would never be touched by developers as they can be complicated to bring forward.

“It is a pioneering initiative and just one of the ways we can create much-needed affordable homes in the county – we also work with housing associations and through our commercial arm, Brierley Homes.”

Matthew Wright, from the government’s housing agency Homes England, added:

“Despite the current challenges affecting the country, accelerating housebuilding remains our number one priority.

“We are committed to supporting North Yorkshire Council’s ambitions to build new homes and our investment through affordable housing grant allows us to do that.

“We’re delighted that this funding will enable North Yorkshire Council to deliver much-needed new homes in Ripon and other parts of North Yorkshire.”

Knaresborough junction to be closed from this weekend

Four weeks of roadworks will begin in central Knaresborough this weekend as Northern Powergrid installs new electricity cables.

The work will take place on King James Road and York Place from Saturday, May 27.

With a trench set to be dug in the carriageway on King James Road, its junction with York Road will be closed until Monday, June 5.

Temporary three-way traffic lights will be installed, with a barrier around a temporary footpath, at the junction.

Work will also be carried out on the pavement between the pedestrian crossing and the footpath towards the cemetery.

From June 5, the junction will be reopened under four-way temporary lights until the expected completion date of Tuesday, June 20.

Northern Powergrid’s connections delivery project engineer Richard Appleyard said:

“Investment work is vital to connect customers to our network and although unavoidable, we do appreciate it can be very disruptive and every effort will be made to keep this disruption to a minimum.

“Our teams will endeavour to ensure access is maintained to properties in the area at all times and we thank local residents and the local community for their patience and co-operation whilst the connection work takes place.”

The company said it had notified nearby customers, including King James’s School and Knaresborough Swimming Pool, about the plans.

The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre is currently under construction adjacent to the existing swimming pool, with work expected to continue until its opening date in November. The old pool is set to be closed in September for the final phase of the project.

For more information about the road closures, contact Northern Powergrid on 0800 011 3332 or email generalenquiries@northernpowergrid.com.

Critical report finds ‘significant shortfalls’ at Harrogate care home

A care home in Harrogate has been found to have “widespread and significant shortfalls in leadership” in a highly critical inspection report.

Avon Lodge on Harlow Moor Drive was rated ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission, while its leadership was found to be ‘inadequate’ in a report published this week.

In the report, which followed an unannounced two-day inspection in February, inspectors downgraded Avon Lodge from its previous ‘good’ rating and said:

“The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the quality of care being provided to people. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks… We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements…

“The provider acknowledged the shortfalls found during this inspection. They took some action following the first day of inspection to begin to address some of the shortfalls found regarding the environment and fire safety.

“The overall rating for the service has changed from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ based on the findings of this inspection.”

The inspection assessed three key areas, asking if the service was safe, effective, and well-led. The latter was rated ‘inadequate;, while the other two were ‘good’.

The areas of ‘caring’ and ‘responsive’ were not assessed during the inspection and are still rated ‘good’, having last been assessed in 2019.

In their latest visit, inspectors found there were multiple breaches of regulations relating to administering medicine, reporting concerns about safeguarding, and carrying out risk assessments. They concluded:

“Some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety. There was an increased risk that people could be harmed.”

Personal care needs

Avon Lodge cares for adults with personal care needs, including some with mental health issues, learning disabilities and autism. It has space for up to 12 people and 11 were resident when the inspection took place.

At that time, the home was being run by a temporary manager, after its registered manager had left the post. A permanent replacement was being recruited, the report said.

Looking at the leadership of the care home, the inspectors said:

“There were widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership. Leaders and the culture they created did not assure the delivery of high-quality care.”

They added:

“There had been no recent engagement with people or their relatives to gather their views on the service. All the relatives we spoke with told us they had not received a questionnaire or been asked for their views. One relative told us, ‘Not for a long while, we got invited to a meeting once that was cancelled.’

“Professional visits to the home or people’s visit to healthcare professionals were not recorded effectively therefore there was no oversight of this contact.”

Inspectors also looked at the way the Mental Capacity Act was used. It is designed to ensure people are allowed to make their own decisions where possible, and when they are not able to do so that the decisions made are in their best interests.

They found there was inadequate record-keeping relating to its use and decisions made for people who were unable to consent.

Inspectors also found the environment of the care home was not always supportive of its residents.

They reported it was often loud and led to them being woken up, while some communal areas were out of use, and some soft furnishings to make it more homely, such as curtains, were missing.

There was poor record-keeping relating to residents’ allergies and family members said the meals provided at the home were not varied enough.

Inspectors made several recommendations in the report of ways in which Avon Lodge should be improved. They also said:

“The provider agreed with the shortfalls found during inspection and took some immediate action.

“The provider took on board the inspection feedback and discussed plans of how they would communicate with people and relatives about the inspection findings and action they were going to take as a result.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Avon Lodge and its owner, Care Network Solutions Ltd, to ask for a response to the report. However, we had not received a reply by the time of publication.

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