North Yorkshire Police has appealed for information and witnesses after a serious robbery at a park in Harrogate.

The robbery happened in Panhandle Park close to the Hookstone Chase entrance at around 6.20pm on Thursday, January 6.

A woman in her 50s reported to the police that she was walking through the park when a person approached her and attempted to steal her rucksack.

The suspect reportedly ran off towards the Dalby estate before the woman checked her bag. She noticed that money and medication was missing.

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The police have made no arrests and have offered up no description of the suspect.

However, officers investigating are keen to trace a man in his early 30s who was walking a dog in the park at the time and offered assistance to the woman after the incident.

North Yorkshire Police has asked for anyone with information on the break-in to get in touch by calling 101. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Quote reference number 12220003059 when providing details.

Harrogate’s main vaccination centre has moved out of the Yorkshire Event Centre and into the goat shed on the opposite side of the showground.

Those due for a booster or anyone who wants to get their first or second dose should enter the Great Yorkshire Showground site by the Sainsburys entrance off Wetherby Road.

Continue past Fodder and the Harrogate Caravan Park. Signs and volunteers lead to the vaccine centre, which is on the right hand side through the gates. Park under shelter of the sheep shed.

Follow the directions of signs and volunteers.

Appointments are available but people are free to go without one as a walk-in.

The centre will be open on weekends from 8.30am until 5pm and until late on one day only during the week.

Since September the Yorkshire Health Network‘s vaccine centres in Ripon and Harrogate have given out 42,000 booster vaccines.

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There was a national effort to give out as many boosters before Christmas. At its peak, the Harrogate vaccine centre team gave out 1,800 jabs in one day.

According to government figures, more than 80% have had a second dose and 67% have had a third dose in the Harrogate district.

The new vaccine centre is smaller.

With much of the work already done and three other vaccine centres in the district, the Harrogate team is confident it can cope with two vaccinators.

Cath Dixon, the GP clinical lead for Yorkshire Health Network, told the Stray Ferret:

“Over the last couple of days we have been dismantling the equipment we had up at the Yorkshire Event Centre to set up again here on the other side of the showground.

“This is the first day we are open here. Now the Yorkshire Event Centre can use the hall we were in for events and we will be able to stay here until March.

“The current JCVI advice is to only offer three doses of the vaccine. But who knows? Things change all the time and we will be here to help get the Harrogate district vaccinated.”

A well-known Harrogate jewellers which has been in the same family for 190 years is set to close it doors for the final time today.

The Stray Ferret revealed in November that A.Fattorini The Jewellers, on Parliament Street, was due to close when the current manager Anthony Tindall retires.

Today, after a busy few months at the shop with the combination of a closing down sale and Christmas, Mr Tindall will bid a fond farewell to his customers and staff.

While most of the stock has found new homes, the few remaining pieces will go to an auction house.

Anthony and his great-great grandfather Antonio Fattorini.

It was not an easy decision for Mr Tindall, whose great, great grandfather Antonio Fattorini founded the business in 1831, but his children were not keen to take it on.

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He told the Stray Ferret today:

“I am very proud of the legacy and the whole family are proud of it. Of course it is sad that it will not continue in my family.

“These are sad decisions but you need to do it. I need to retire otherwise I will still be doing this well into my 80s and the world isn’t ready for that.

“Customers like the bargains but they do say they are sorry to see us go. People will remember us for the happy and important things in life, engagements and weddings.

“It has touched many lives, I know lots of the customers but plenty come in and say you won’t know me but buying jewellery from Fattorini is part of their family tradition.”

It is unclear what will happen to the iconic building where Fattorini has been based since 1884 when it closes.

However, Mr Tindall hopes that a new family will take on the business.

A block of garages in Pannal are set to be demolished and replaced with council housing, despite concerns it will only worsen parking problems in the area.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved its own plans to build two new homes at Pannal Green where it says eight garages are underused and new parking spaces will be provided nearby.

But many locals say the site is well used for parking and that if removed more cars will be forced onto the already busy surrounding streets.

A total of 45 residents have lodged objections including Louisa Humpage who lives next to the site and has raised a separate complaint of losing access to a side gate at her home.

She said she had begun legal talks over the issue, but the council has argued there is no right of access over its land.

Speaking at a council meeting on Thursday, Mrs Humpage said: 

“The behaviour of the council does not feel representative of its constituents, but actually working against us in their own interests.”

There are around 1,800 households currently waiting for social housing in the Harrogate district – around 75% of which have requested to live in suburbs such as Pannal.

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Using garage sites to bring forward new housing has been a tactic used by the council to make some progress on the problem, with similar plans recently approved in Ripon.

Yet several residents living on Pannal Green believe it is not the right area for new housing and that the parking problems need addressing as a priority.

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council said in a letter of objection that the additional six parking spaces proposed “does not even pay lip service” in recognition of the problem.

Conservative Cllr John Mann, who represents the Pannal ward on Harrogate Borough Council, also said it is already “extremely difficult to park in or around Pannal Green without the addition of new houses”.

He told Thursday’s meeting: 

“If there are fewer parking spaces, the number of residents looking for parking spaces is going to increase significantly.”

January can be a pretty depressing month.

Our finances have usually taken a hit thanks to Christmas, we feel run-down due to the impact the festive season has had on our nutrition and sleep and the cold, gloomy days don’t help either.

Add to that the effect the pandemic has, and continues to have, on our mental health, it comes as no surprise some of us just want to lie down in a dark room and hibernate until spring.

If the past year has been a slog, these breaks focusing on nutrition, yoga and mindfulness in the Harrogate district can help restore balance, health and creativity.

A Harrogate vegan cafe has had to delay its opening due to covid uncertainty.

Vertigo, which describes itself as a “plant-based eatery”, was set to open its fourth venue for chain on Station Parade. But its opening date was unclear, with the company saying it would be “very soon”.

The cafe is set to be based in the former Stevie’s Bar unit under the Everyman Cinema on Station Parade. However, it seems there has been no further work done since the initial advertisement was placed in the windows in July.

In a statement the eatery said:

“Due to ongoing uncertainty with covid we can’t fully comment on when the site will be opening sadly. We’re trying our best to get a timeframe.”

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When open, the new venue will have 55 seats and be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It is also believed that it will be the only dedicated vegan restaurant in Harrogate, with other restaurants including vegan options on their menus.

Did you know Harrogate has a fascinating connection to the tomb of Tutankhamen, which was discovered 100 years ago this month?

Harrogate Library has shared the story behind King Tut and James Ogden, who opened the jewellers in Harrogate in 1893.

According to researchers at the library, Ogden had a passion for archaeology and his specialism was Egyptology.

He was a prolific letter writer and wrote with Howard Carter for many years, the man who eventually would discover the tomb in 1922.

When Carter discovered the tomb, he invited Ogden to the Valley of the Kings as part of his team of experts and the Harrogate jeweller was one of the first people in over 3,000 years to visit inside.

He even owned two phials with consecration fluid from the tomb.

James Ogden

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Ogden gave lectures about his travels and it was reported in the local press that he had some “extremely fine” slides showing the actual handling of the mummy.

He also ensured that his shop on James Street could meet the demand for Egyptian-inspired jewellery, which was all the rage in the 1920s and 30s.

Harrogate Library was bequeathed some of the glass slides owned by James Ogden and staff say one of their projects this year will be looking at how they can make them more accessible to the public.

Councillors and residents frustrated with delays on a new footpath for a “dangerous” road in one of Harrogate’s fastest-growing areas are stepping up their calls for action.

The Kingsley Road area is facing the construction of around 600 new homes and a new footpath and street lighting providing a link with Bogs Lane was promised as part of a deal with housebuilders, but detailed plans have yet to come forward.

Cllr Philip Broadbank, who represents the Starbeck area, said safety had become a serious concern for residents and that “urgent action is now needed”.

He told a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee:

“I really do worry about what could happen if we don’t get this issue resolved soon.

“I’m raising this because it’s a dangerous situation and needs to be resolved.

“Over the last three years major developments have started around the railway bridge and many of the new homes are now occupied.

“Over 600 homes are in the progress of being developed and there is now an urgent need to get a footpath and lighting in this area.

“We can’t delay action for much longer – we need to make sure this area is safe for people to walk and cycle.”

Cllr Broadbank also said the “rat run” road was only getting busier with traffic due to the growing population and cars using it to avoid queues at Starbeck level crossing.

‘Bumper-to-bumper’ traffic in Kingsley area

This comes after residents previously warned the Kingsley area was already struggling with “bumper-to-bumper” traffic – even before the hundreds of new homes were built.

And ever since construction works began there have been complaints over heavy lorries using the narrow streets, mud on the roads and temporary closures. This has led to several enforcement orders against housebuilders being drawn up by Harrogate Borough Council.

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Councillors, residents and Harrogate MP Andrew Jones have all written to the North Yorkshire County Council on the promise of a new footpath, and there is now a request for the authority to come up with a “speedy plan of action”.

Melissa Burnham, highways area manager at the county council, told Thursday’s meeting the issue was being treated as a priority and that the delays have been partly due to drawn-out talks with landowners.

She said: 

“There was a planning obligation on one of the developers to design and deliver a footway link between the Barratts development site and railway bridge.

“Unfortunately, a review of the footway design revealed the proposal put forward was not deliverable due to site constraints.

“North Yorkshire County Council’s highways teams have reviewed alternative designs, but unfortunately the solution requires third-party land which has and still continues to be a lengthy process in terms of negotiations.”

She added: 

“North Yorkshire County Council highways can certainly offer reassurances that progress is being made to bring about a satisfactory solution, but the process is very much time-constrained by processes which are not directly in our control.

“Because of this I’m not able to give a commencement date yet, but I can assure you those conversations are taking place.”

A woman in her 50s was found dead this morning after firefighters were called to a fire at a house in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue sent crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough to reports of a fire on Craven Street, just off King’s Road, at 6.20am.

On arrival firefighters made their way into the property and found the woman. They took her out of the house to paramedics, who tried to save her life with CPR.

However, the ambulance crew pronounced her dead at the scene.

Firefighters then carried another search of the property but found no evidence of other people.

North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have launched a joint investigation to determine the cause of the blaze.

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• Care volunteers sought amid omicron surge in Harrogate district

A resident on the street, who didn’t want to be named, said:

“There was a lot going on here this morning with lots of police, ambulance and fire engines.

“From what we can tell there was a fire at the back of the house. But we didn’t see any flames or smoke.

“Someone was stretchered away and they were trying to resuscitate them.”

The fire happened on Craven Street.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were deployed to carry out a search of the property. One casualty was located.

“They were brought out of the property and CPR was given. However, they were pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance crews.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police added:

“North Yorkshire Police was called Craven Street in Harrogate at around 6.20am on Friday, January 7 following a report of a house fire at the location.

“On arrival a woman in her 50s, the sole occupant of the property, had sadly been pronounced dead by ambulance crews.”

Police are investigating after thieves smashed their way into a jewellery shop in Harrogate overnight.

Browns Family Jewellers on Beulah Street has been a hive of police activity today with officers carrying out investigations. The jewellers was broken into at 2.30am this morning.

This afternoon passers-by could still see the crime scene investigation team gathering evidence while staff tried to clean up smashed glass.

At this time it is unclear how much jewellery, if anything, the suspects managed to take from the shop.

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A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“I can confirm that the intruder and fire alarms, due to a smashed window and the presence of smoke in the property, activated at 2.28am today.

“It appears that the suspects entered the building but it is not yet clear if anything was taken.

“CCTV and forensic examinations are ongoing along with neighbourhood enquiries.”

North Yorkshire Police has asked for anyone with information on the break-in to get in touch by calling 101. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Quote reference number 12220003179 when providing details.