North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has urged residents to remember the potential consequences of flouting lockdown guidelines.

Julia Mulligan’s warning comes after a weekend which saw groups gathering to drink along West Park, resulting in one pub being issued with a prohibition order.

She said police were doing all they could to respond to public concern but were only able to disperse large gatherings:

“The police have no powers to deal with breaches of social distancing – that’s public health advice. Part of the problem is the public expect the police to deal with it, but the police don’t have the power.”

Harrogate’s Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Penny Taylor said officers had spent a busy weekend engaging with the public and explaining the importance of following regulations, as well as assisting Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing team at two pubs. She said:

“Personal responsibility is now key to controlling the virus and while the police cannot enforce social distancing guidance, we urge people to remember that although some of the restrictions have been relaxed, the virus has not gone away, you can still catch it and pass it on to your family and friends.

“Thankfully, the vast majority of the public continue to do their bit and follow guidance which means our officers have rarely had to enforce the Government regulations.”

While six people have been allowed to meet outside from today, over the weekend the rules remained that people could only meet with one other person from outside their household. Ms Mulligan said the announcement that rules were going to change this week probably led to a greater number of people feeling safe to go out over the weekend and meet more people.

“I’m sure that’s actually what they thought. It puts the police in a very difficult set of circumstances, to have to deal with that. In a way, the lockdown was easier to enforce.”

Read more on this story:

• Harrogate bar issued with prohibition notice after repeated breach lockdown rules
• Groups gather on Harrogate’s Stray before lockdown restrictions eased

She said the government’s guidance had been sufficiently clear but it was trying to balance the need to get the economy moving again against the risk to people’s health. In many cases, she said, problems being reported to the police were in fact for other agencies to deal with, such as local authorities with licensing breaches.

Julia Mulligan, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

As well as central Harrogate, North Yorkshire Police said crowds were out in “unprecedented numbers” in Knaresborough at Conyngham Hall and the riverside, as well as Brimham Rocks. Outer Harrogate Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Steve Breen said:

“Our officers reported the vast majority of people were acting responsibly and we thank them for their continued efforts over the past two months.

“The overarching aim of the police response has always been to keep people as safe as possible, and encourage them to follow the regulations, reducing the transmission of the virus and protecting lives but it is up to members of the public to ensure that they are following the social distance guidance.”

With cooler temperatures forecast over the coming days, Ms Mulligan said she is hopeful that the scenes reported over the weekend will not be repeated. However, she said it was important for all authorities to work together, especially as people who have been kept in lockdown for weeks or months want to get out and are limited in the options available.

“I would like to see a more strategic approach to dealing with some of the issues we’ve encountered. A more coordinated approach amongst local authorities, working more closely not just on the ground with policing colleagues, but at a planning level to try and come up with a more robust way to deal with these issues. If this goes on all summer and people can’t get away on holiday, I am concerned.”

She added:

“I just want people to remember there’s a killer virus out there and the last thing we want is a second wave.”

Andrew Jones has written to the parent company of Stray FM to seek reassurances over the radio station’s future.

In a post on his website, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP said he was “disappointed” that Bauer Media’s “winning formula is set to change.”

Bauer announced five days ago that Stray FM, which has covered the district since 1994, will come off the air and become Greatest Hits Radio. There will be a regional drivetime show for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire but the majority of the programming will follow the national schedule.

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Last week, there was a huge outcry on social media from people who have fond memories of the radio station.

That led the Liberal Democrats to launch a petition last week calling for Bauer Media to reverse its decision to replace Stray FM with a national radio station.

Read more about this story:

• What will happen to Stray FM when it comes off the air?
• Want to save Stray FM? Liberal Democrats launch petition

Mr Jones said:

“It’s local, it’s interesting, it’s current and it’s presented by people we know and trust. But it’s more than that. It is a radio station that supports local events and charities. It’s a station that supports the community and the community repays this by supporting the station.”

For the sixth day in a row, Harrogate District Hospital has not reported a coronavirus death.

It is a positive story for the hospital, where 64 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have died so far.

Meanwhile across England’s hospitals, a further 108 people have died, bringing the total number up to 26,722.

Read more on this story

• Watch how Harrogate thanked its carers during the coronavirus lockdown
• Hear Harrogate Mayoress’ tribute to the carers who saved her life

Patients were aged between 29 and 99 years old. 16 of the 108 patients, who were aged between 48 and 94, had no known underlying health conditions.

On Thursday last week, the hospital reported a total of 109 patients had recovered from coronavirus and been discharged.

A Harrogate pub, which invited customers for takeaway food and drinks, breached the lockdown rules repeatedly over the weekend.

Harrogate Borough Council sent its enforcement team to two pubs on Saturday and reported that people were breaking the rules.

It gave advice to the licensees of both pubs and reminded them of the law.

The next day the Coach and Horses opened again and followed the initial advice before, the council says it committed a further breach of regulations.

As a result, the officers served the pub with a prohibition notice.

Read more on this story:

• What happened on Saturday afternoon?
• Harrogate pub owners said they followed government guidelines

When the officers were on site they were also subjected to verbal abuse from customers.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said:

“While pubs are allowed to offer take away food (which may include alcoholic drink), they are not permitted to operate any kind of beer ‘garden’ on their property. This includes putting tables or chairs on, or anywhere adjacent to, their premises for customers to use. We will take all necessary enforcement action if a business breaks the current coronavirus lockdown legislation.”

The owners of Three’s a Crowd and the Coach and Horses on West Park Stray said they followed government guidelines when they opened over the weekend to sell take-out beer.

On Saturday afternoon crowds outside the two pubs led Harrogate police to urge the public to stick to social distancing as people blocked the pavements and were not keeping 2 metres apart.  It led to a large amount of concern on social media that people are giving up on the rules.

John Quinlan of Three’s a Crowd told The Stray Ferret that safety was their priority:

We worked with the North Yorkshire police to monitor social distancing and they were supportive and helpful throughout. Helping us maintain the safety of our guests within the boundaries of our pub.

The majority of our guests were sensible and followed the social distancing measures set out with only a few that decided to ignore these. With the Stray being closed directly opposite and people beginning to congregate we decided to close early and stop serving, asking people to disband.

Tables and chairs put on the grass verge of the Stray for drinkers at The Coach and Horses on Sunday

“You can go to Waitrose and buy a can and sit on the Stray and drink it or you can come here and buy a drink and do the same thing. The only difference is that every penny we take is going to Horticap. Saturday was the first day and a one point it did get crowded outside. You learn – today we’ve put chairs up on the other side of the road so that the pavement outside is free and we’ve put an extra barrier outside.

I have a licence to sell beer either on and off the property- what rules am I breaking?”

Whether Mr Nelson will be allowed to keep his chairs and tables on the other side of the road though, remains to be seen.

For the fifth consecutive day there have been no reported deaths at Harrogate District Hospital of patients who tested positive for covid-19. A total of 64 patients have died at the hospital of the virus since the start of the pandemic.

A further 85 people, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died- 25 in Yorkshire and the North East. The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England is 26,614.

Patients were aged between 56 and 100 years old.  Six of the 85 patients had no known underlying health condition.

WATCH:  A moving video of the 10 weeks of Clap for our Carers in the Harrogate District .

On Thursday the hospital reported a total of 109 patients, who tested positive for coronavirus, had recovered and been discharged – an increase of five on the previous week.

We have noticed an increase in gatherings on pavements due to queuing for takeaways from various premises and then staying around the area with bought goods. Please can we remind you that when queuing outside premises, you adhere to the social distancing guidelines and enjoy your bought goods away from the queues.

What is the guidance for take-aways?

• Setting out clear demarcation for 2m distances for customers queuing.
• Asking customers to wait in their cars. Asking customers to order online, on apps or over the telephone to reduce queues and stagger pick-up times.
• Making regular announcements to remind customers to follow social distancing advice

What are the current rules for meeting others?

• Over the weekend the rules have not changed. People in England are allowed to meet 1 person from another household in a public place outside while maintaining a 2m distance.
• From tomorrow, groups of up to 6 will be allowed to meet. People in England will be permitted to congregate in gardens and other private outdoor spaces, instead of just in public spaces.  Public gatherings of more than six people from different households will be prohibited in law.

A group of 11 on the Stray on Friday evening

 

With social distancing restrictions in place, the coronavirus crisis has impacted on the way in which families and friends are able to say their final farewells to loved ones.

Harrogate Crematorium currently permits a maximum of 10 people to enter the chapel building for a service, but funeral directors are using the technology to ensure that meaningful services can still be held while ever lockdown limits reduce attendance at cremations and burials.

Sarah Jones (pictured) founder of Full Circle Funerals, of Skipton Road, Harrogate said:

” In recent weeks we’ve seen lots of innovations successfully enter the industry that would have been unheard of a couple of months ago.

“We are now helping to organise online ceremonies, using video conferencing software, which has been very successful. Friends and family can also provide messages, drawings, flowers from their garden, or even personal items to go on or in the coffin, which can all play a profound and significant part in the grieving process. It also helps people deal with the fact that they are not able to carry the coffin for the person who has died, which many people have struggled with.”

The technology means celebrants can still lead ceremonies, or people can do this themselves and share the event online and include as many friends and family in it, regardless of where they are in the world.

The family of father of four and grandfather of seven, Bruce Hammond, who died from Covid-19 aged 89-year-old, arranged his funeral through Full Circle.

Daughter, Jo Hammond, said that after considering the social distancing restrictions that would limit the number able to celebrate his life:

“We decided to fully embrace what we could do, rather than thinking about what we couldn’t do.

“As the hearse left the family home, family and neighbours lined the street. We then held a service using Zoom that approximately 60 people logged into, with a couple of people watching on each screen, and one of his grandchildren logged in from Germany.”

In 2018, Sarah Jones wrote and published Funerals Your Way: A Person-Centred Approach to Planning a Funeral, and the book quickly became a successful seller on Amazon.

Take a look at the 30-acre site that could soon see the creation of the first community-owned woodland in the area.

The project would turn an area of green land, known as Long Lands Common into a public woodland with 40,000 trees.

£300,000 is required to buy the land- before the November deadline. A public appeal has been launched and people will be able to buy shares for a minimum of £50 from July through to November

The woodland plan is being led by Nidd Gorge Community Action (NGCA) and it follows its  3-year campaign against the ‘Harrogate Relief Road’ proposed by North Yorkshire County Council.

Chris Kitson who is the secretary of the Long Lands common group told the Stray Ferret:

Where better to have a new community woodland than on the very same greenbelt land, between Harrogate and Knaresborough, that was threatened by the Nidd Gorge road? 12,000 people said they didn’t want a road and now the same people are keen to buy shares. We hope to have this community woodland owned by as many people in Harrogate and Knaresborough as possible.

It would be our contribution to the northern forest project- a scheme which aims to plant 50 million trees across the North of England.

Chris went on to say that he thinks the support comes at a time where people are feeling like there are just too many new buildings:

I think there’s a lot of concern about the amount of development on greenbelt land, it’s just getting too much now. This gives the community the chance to take back real control, take power into their own hands and collectively own a piece of the greenbelt –  to plant with trees, preserve for ourselves and wildlife, and leave as a legacy for future generations, instead of a road.

The community woodland would border the Nidderdale Greenway, close to its starting point at The Avenue, Starbeck and the Bilton Triangle.

Gary Lawson Photography

Large groups of young people have gathered on the Stray in the hot weather – breaking existing lockdown restrictions and new the rules that are due come into force.

From Monday, people can meet in groups of up to 6 people in outdoor spaces like parks or private gardens – as long as they remain two metres apart.

The Stray Ferret witnessed many groups of up to 11 young people on the Stray yesterday evening and today who were lying or sitting close together.  There was no police presence at the time these pictures were taken.

North Yorkshire Police have said their officers would be out and about today and

“continue to engage with members of the public, explain the regulations and encourage people to adhere to them, using enforcement as a last resort”.

What’s your experience of being out in the sunshine today? Have you felt people are abiding by the lockdown rules and staying 2m apart? Get in touch: contact@thestrayferret.co.uk  or follow us and comment on social media @TheStrayFerret