Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning everyone, traffic is getting busier on the district’s roads now so make sure to keep and eye on our morning blogs.

It’s Leah here with you bright and early this morning, please get in touch with me via social media or email me at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This blog, brought to you by The HACS Group, brings you updates every 15 minutes on the road and rail links near you.

9am – Full Update 

That is it from me this morning! I will be back with you on Monday morning bright and early with updates every 15 minutes from 6.30am. Have a lovely weekend.

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8:45am – Full Update 

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8:30am – Full Update 

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8:15am – Full Update 

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8am – Full Update 

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7:45am – Full Update 

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7:30am – Full Update 

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Traffic is building in these areas:

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7:15am – Full Update 

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7am – Full Update 

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The roads look to be clear so far this morning across Harrogate and Knaresborough. No Traffic Hotspots to report yet.

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6.45am – Full Update 

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The roads look to be clear so far this morning. No Traffic Hotspots to report yet.

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6.30am – Full Update 

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The roads look to be clear so far this morning. No Traffic Hotspots to report yet.

Temporary traffic lights are in place:

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Harrogate indoor play centre aims to raise £3,500 before reopening

A Harrogate indoor play centre is hoping to raise £3,500 with a raffle before it opens its doors on May 17 as lockdown restrictions ease.

World of their Own, which is based at Hornbeam Park, has been hit particularly hard over the past year: since March 2020 it has only been able to open for 10 weeks.

Although its owners have no intention of closing down and are determined to find the cash somehow, they hope the raffle will cover the costs.

Both Winkies Harrogate, which was based in Starbeck, and Goose, which was based at Hornbeam Park, have permanently closed as a result of the pandemic.

It means that Harrogate now only has two indoor play centres in World of their Own and Little Bees Harrogate, formerly Kidzplay.

Christa and Lee Webber, of World of their Own, have said that while they have made full use of government grants and have a supportive landlord, they still have a funding gap.

To plug that gap they are raffling off a year’s unlimited play pass, afternoon tea in the fairytale parlour for four and a wild west birthday party for 20 children.

There are 700 tickets available at £5.50 per ticket. So far they have sold 185 tickets and the deadline to buy a ticket is at 5pm on May 1. Raffall, the platform they are using, takes a 10% cut.

Read more:

Crista Webber told the Stray Ferret how this funding gap is their final hurdle:

“Every ticket sold is a massive help. We have been very frugal over the last year. When we needed to develop more space upstairs Lee built it by hand.

“We will reopen no matter what happens. If we cannot reach the £3,500 then we will need to find the money another way.

“We opened a World of their Own and it was just two months before the pandemic hit. Since then it has been an incredible struggle, which we hope we are coming to the end of.”

Meet Coco: Harrogate’s tea drinking, Only Fools quoting parrot

Donna Greig from Harrogate has wanted a parrot since she was a child and said it was “love at first sight” when she first saw 13-year-old Coco.

After taking the Congo African Grey parrot home from Knaresborough Exotic Pet Rescue in December, it’s been a whirlwind few months for Coco and her new owner.

Some studies suggest that parrots are one of the most intelligent species of bird on the planet. Donna said Coco needs a lot of stimulation and needs to be out of her cage for up to six hours a day.

She said:

“When she wont get the attention she thinks she deserves, she creates absolute havoc.

“They are mini destructor weapons. You don’t need a paper shredder when you have a parrot.”

But Coco has a favourite drink that helps get her head right.

“She likes a nice cup of chamomile tea to help calm her down.”

Donna says she feeds Coco vegetables and fruit but she can be particular.

“I get a dirty look if I don’t give her pine nuts and pomegranates. It’s like being ruled by a mini-dictator!”

What a plonker

Parrots are famous for mimicking human speech which they learn through repetition.

Coco is no different, and when Donna comes home from work she sings away to the radio “having a whale of a time.”

She said she also “has the beep of my washing machine down to a tee”.

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Donna said:

“Coco likes pop music and is a massive fan of Disney. She absolutely loves the song Let It Go and also gets quite excited at Prince and Miley Cyrus.”

“But I’ve have been good not to teach her swear words. I’ve gone into mummy mode”.

Coco has even picked up on a phrase from Donna’s favourite TV show.

“I watch Only Fools and Horses all the time so she calls me a plonker.”

Perfect companion

Donna lives on her own and says Coco has been the perfect companion during lockdown.

She said the bird makes her laugh every day, but bathtime can be difficult.

“Coco is a water dodger and when I take her into the bathroom she says, ‘no, I’m not having this’, and flies into the bedroom.”

Despite the occasional temper tantrums, Donna said she has no regrets and has recently created a Facebook page for fellow parrot owners in Harrogate to discuss their feathered pets.

She added:

“Getting Coco was the best decision I ever made”.

Arrest warrant for former Coach and Horses landlord

A court in Harrogate has issued an arrest warrant for the former landlord of the Coach and Horses pub.

John Nelson, who held the pub’s licence for 33 years until last summer, was due for a hearing at the Harrogate Justice Centre today.

Police arrested Mr Nelson on October 30, the day after the council gave his daughter the licence, on Leeds Road and tested him for drugs.

The test found that he had 30 micrograms of cocaine per litre of blood in his system. Officers also found three bottles of methadone in his car.

As a result, officers charged him with drug driving and with possession of a class A drug.

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Mr Nelson, 65, was due to enter a plea at court today but failed to show. So the court has now put out a warrant for his arrest.

If he does not hand himself in at a police station then officers will attempt to find and arrest him.

He lost his licence after North Yorkshire Police found customers drinking outside the Coach and Horses and not observing social distancing over the weekend of May 30.

Customers of the pub launched a petition to grant the licence to his daughter Samantha Nelson, which the council did in October last year.

She said she would refurbish and reopen but there has been no movement at the pub ever since. The Stray Ferret has made several enquiries but has received no reply.

Harrogate hospital completes second jabs for frontline staff

Today is the last day of second vaccine appointments for frontline healthcare and social worker staff at Harrogate District Hospital.

Meanwhile, Public Health England has announced that only one more case of covid has been confirmed in the district, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 7,643.

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The district’s seven-day rate has declined slightly to 20.5. This is lower than the Yorkshire and the England rate, which both stand at 23.9.

No more deaths were reported in the district today.

The covid death toll at the hospital is therefore still at 179 in total.

Mr and Miss Harrogate cancelled due to low competitor numbers

Bodybuilding barber David Steca has cancelled plans to stage a Mr and Miss Harrogate competition on August 1.

Mr Steca, who is a multi-titled bodybuilder, intended to stage the event in a in a marquee near his home in Menwith Hill.

But he announced on social media the event will not take place. He said:

“After much deliberation, I am sad to announce the cancellation of the show. Competitor numbers are very low, which would not make for an entertaining day.

“It’s a shame but it needed to be entertaining and the numbers need to work.

“Thank you to all the generous sponsors who came forward to support the day.”

Mr Steca, 61, owns Steca No6 in Harrogate and another salon in Leeds.

Besides being a barber, he also trains physique athletes for competitions.

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Wetherby Road newsagent to be converted to hairdressers

The closure of another newsagent during the pandemic has raised concern about the loss of these local community stores.

A planning application has been lodged to change the use of Wilkinson’s newsagent, at 137 Wetherby Road, near Woodlands junction. The newsagent, which closed last year when the owner Alan Wilkinson retired, will become a hairdresser and beauty salon with five treatment rooms.

Councillor Pat Marsh, whose ward the newsagents is located in, recalls that the building was used as a sweet shop as far back as 1956, when she moved to the area. It has been a newsagents since at least 1977.

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Cllr Marsh said that the shop had been a “wonderful asset to the community”:

“There is a problem in Harrogate about a lack of small community shops – but where does the blame lie? It lies with us, we do our shopping in the supermarkets, it’s just the way life has turned.”

Last year also saw the closure of the newsagent at Harrogate railway station, run by Brian Moses. This reflects a national trend of declining numbers of newsagents, driven by lower tobacco and newspaper sales.

The application also includes the demolition of a garage on the premises and an increase in the number of parking spaces, from three to five.

The planning officer will make a decision on the application by 27th May.

‘We feel like prisoners’: Harrogate care home resident on isolation rule

A Harrogate man who lives in a care home has spoken out against rules telling residents not to go outside and to self isolate for two weeks if they do.

Nick Moxon, 32, has cerebral palsy and is a resident at Disability Action Yorkshire‘s care home on Claro Road. He was shocked, like others in the home, to learn of the new guidance.

Residents like Mr Moxon have the backing of Jackie Snape, chief executive of Disability Action Yorkshire, the Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon, and Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council. All three have spoken out against the guidance.

While the debate continues, care home residents like Mr Moxon see others enjoying the more relaxed lockdown rules and are left feeling bewildered.

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Mr Moxon, like all residents at his care home, has had both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. He told the Stray Ferret:

“When I first found out what the rules were I shared it with my family and friends, they cannot understand it either.

“If you fly to the UK you just have to isolate for 10 days. If you live in supported living these rules don’t apply. It is crazy. We just want to be treated like everyone else.

“But we are being treated like lesser beings. We are trapped in here like prisoners. Better than most, we understand the risks of coronavirus.

“Before the pandemic we were all extremely sociable. We understood over the last year but now we have had the vaccine and lockdown is easing, we just want to get our lives back.”

The more restrictive guidance for care homes was issued shortly after restrictions eased on the hospitality sector last week and non-essential shops were allowed to reopen.

Ms Snape, who has written to Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones about the issue, previously said:

“For the people that live at 34 Claro Road this is devastating. They are young people who just want to have the same freedoms as everyone else.

“They are seeing pictures of groups enjoying a beer outside the pub and they are being told they can’t even go for a walk around the block.”

Andrew Jones MP supports bid to reduce VAT on hospitality sector

Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones has said a bid to extend the reduction on VAT for the hospitality and tourist sector would help a “huge number” of companies in his constituency.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in this year’s Budget the 5% reduction on VAT for the sector would be extended until September.

Now a clause in the Finance Bill proposes further extending it until March next year.

Speaking in a Commons debate yesterday, Mr Jones said the move would cost £5 billion a year but would help organisations that were “running on empty”.

He said the sector employed 9,464 people in Harrogate and Knaresborough before the pandemic, which “puts us in the top 10% of constituencies across the country”.

He added:

“The industry needs a period of stability where it can rebuild.

“One challenge will be when businesses have been through the summer and they face the standard seasonal reduction but may not have built up the cash flow in reserve to see them through the leaner months.

“This initiative recognises that risk, so the continuity of support through the winter is welcome.”

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Mr Jones said the sector’s supply chain had been particularly badly affected, adding:

“I know that, in my own constituency, some businesses in the supply sector will not be reopening, and businesses that have served the industry well for many years are at a crisis point.”

Extending the 12.5% rate of VAT would, he said, stimulate demand, especially in the quieter winter season, and that demand would generate the cash flow that businesses need. 

He quoted Ian Fozard, who runs Roosters brewery in Knaresborough, saying “most businesses like ours need a sustained period of good trading to build back some reserves”.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa, told the Stray Ferret in March the reduction in VAT meant “that my team will still be able to pay their mortgages”. He added:

“We are lucky that we as a business have more fat on our back, but there are lots who live hand to mouth.”

Car chase and five arrests in driving crackdown in Harrogate district

North Yorkshire Police said today a recent crackdown on dangerous driving had achieved “strong results” after just two weeks.

Operation Boundary involves high numbers of traffic officers targeting accident hotspots on key routes.

It began over the Easter bank holiday weekend when police targeted the Dales and Craven.

So far 163 traffic offence reports have been issued for offences ranging from using handheld mobiles while driving, dangerous overtaking and speeding.

When police blitzed the Harrogate district on Tuesday last week, they arrested five people, seized two vehicles and set off on a car chase after a driver failed to stop.

Operation Boundary ‘will continue to run at various locations throughout the summer’, according to a police statement.

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Traffic sergeant Pete Stringer, who is leading the operation, said:

“The strong results we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks show how our roads are being used, and occasionally abused, as lockdown restrictions ease.

“We’re seeing much more traffic, particularly in scenic rural areas and a small minority of road users who seem to think the rules don’t apply to them.”