Police appeal for help after Harrogate Co-op theft

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for help after a man stole alcohol and some Ariel detergent from a Harrogate Co-op.

The theft occurred on Friday at the Co-op service station on Ripon Road.

According to police, a number of bottles of alcohol and the detergent were taken.

Officers are appealing for information to identify the man in the CCTV images who they believe holds information that could help with their enquiries.

The police are asking anyone who recognises the man or has information on his whereabouts to get in touch.

You can call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option two and ask for PC Ben Clarke.

Alternatively, email 000721@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk. The crime reference number is 12210085638.

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Conservatives choose candidate for Bilton by-election

Harrogate borough councillor Matt Scott has been chosen as the Conservative candidate for the vacant Harrogate Bilton and Nidd Gorge seat on North Yorkshire County Council.

A by-election is taking place following the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Geoff Webber.

Cllr Scott has represented the Bilton Woodfield ward on  Harrogate Borough Council since 2018 and works in Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones’ office. He has lived in Bilton all his life.

He said:

“I am proud to call Bilton my home and there are many aspects of the area that make it a great place to live.

 “We are served by many small independent businesses; we have great schools and of course we have the Nidd Gorge, a vast green space on our doorstep.

 “I was part of the campaign to save it when proposals came forward for a relief road and my view has not changed.”

He said he wanted to be a “strong, local voice” on the county council, alongside fellow Conservative Paul Haslam, who also lives in Bilton and sits on both the borough and county councils.

He added:

“I will work hard to ensure we continue to have great schools, safe neighbourhoods and that our valuable green spaces remain untouched.”

Read more:

The by-election is scheduled on May 6. Nominations must be submitted by April 8.

It will be the only time residents can vote to elect county councillors this year after the government delayed elections due to local government reorganisation.

The Conservative-controlled county council currently has 53 Conservative councillors, four Labour councillors and four representing the Liberal Democrats. There are also eight North Yorkshire Independent and three independent councillors.

When the by-election was last run in 2017, Conservative Paul Haslam and Liberal Democrat Geoff Webber won the ward’s two seats with 1,618 and 1,414 votes respectively.

Liberal Democrat Mark McDermid came third with 1,285 votes and Conservative Graham Swift was fourth with 1,207 votes.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said it would choose its candidate after Mr Webber’s funeral today.

 

Beech Grove traffic closure trial could be extended to 18 months

The six-month experimental closure of Beech Grove in Harrogate to through traffic could be extended to 18 months.

North Yorkshire County Council said when the experimental order came into force last month it would be a trial for six months.

But the council’s highways boss confirmed today it has the power to extend the trial from six months to 18 months, meaning it would end in August 2022 rather than August 2021.

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Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, told the Stray Ferret:

“The experimental traffic regulation order enables us to keep the closure in place for 18 months.

“We are assessing the impact all of the time. If it proves to be highly unpopular then it could still end after six months.

“However, just based on the communication I have received, there has been a big response but I would say that it is mainly positive.

“Those who have complained often say that it is just moving traffic elsewhere in the town.

“But those who are positive say they enjoying how it helps them to walk and cycle more.”

When the order began, some motorists avoided the newly-installed planters by driving on the Stray.

The tyre tracks on the Stray prompted the council to erect a road sign to act as a road block and warning to drivers.

Leeds Road closes in evenings from tonight for repairs

Leeds Road will be closed in the evenings for a month to allow for carriageway repairs.

The road will be closed from Princess Royal Way in Pannal to Beech Avenue in Harrogate from tonight until April 30 excluding bank holidays.

To minimise disruption the resurfacing work will be carried out between 6.30pm and 11.30pm.

An eight mile diversion will be in place for the duration of the repairs. Drivers will be sent on the A658 John Metcalf Way on then onto Wetherby Road and York Place.

North Yorkshire County Council is behind the plans and has warned that it may restrict vehicle access to people who live on the stretch of road.

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Pedestrians will be able to still use the pavements while works are ongoing.

It is possible that some adjustment to this start date or the duration of the works may be necessary.

This is part of a wider programme of carriageway repairs which started with the first phase in the Old Barber area of Bilton at the start of March. Leadhall Lane is also due for resurfacing work this year.

The Franklin Road area repairs also started just over a week ago and that it is due to finish in early April.

Beckwithshaw has worst superfast broadband coverage in North Yorkshire

The village of Beckwithshaw near Harrogate has the worst superfast broadband coverage in the whole of North Yorkshire.

House of Commons library data published recently reveals the village, alongside Menwith & Denton Moor, has superfast coverage of 66.4%, much lower than the UK average of 94.9%.

Superfast broadband is defined as a speed of between 30 Mbps and 300 Mbps.

Terri Micallef has run Rigg Farm Montessori Nursery in Beckwithshaw since 1994. She said she has faced years of poor broadband coverage which had a negative impact on her business.

She said:

“We use iPads for child observation and it was so slow and wasted so much time. It was so frustrating having to wait.”

In the end, she said she became so annoyed with poor speeds she ditched the broadband for a mobile internet router that has “worked really well.”

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The area of Beckwithshaw, Menwith, and Denton Moor has the second slowest average broadband speeds in the Skipton and Ripon constituency at 37.2 Mbps, which is to be expected considering it has the worst coverage in the county.

Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley has the overall slowest speeds in the constituency at 36.4 Mbps.

In the Harrogate & Knaresborough constituency, Boroughbridge & Marton-Cum-Grafton has the slowest speeds at 46 Mbps. Saltergate has the quickest internet with a 94.1 Mbps average.

North Yorkshire County Council has responsibility for broadband in the county.

Robert Ling, assistant director for Technology and Change, said:

“We understand the importance of high-speed connectivity to businesses and residents. For that reason, North Yorkshire has been at the forefront of investment in broadband for some years, through the creation of high-speed connectivity provider NYnet and the Superfast North Yorkshire programme.

“We acknowledge that some areas are particularly difficult to reach for geographical and technical reasons, but we are working alongside communities and Building Digital UK to find innovative solutions.”

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and welcome to the start of a new week. It’s Connor here giving you traffic and travel updates every 15 minutes.

Brought to you by The HACS Group, this blog will let you know how the road and rail links are near you.

Make sure to keep in touch via social media or email us on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

9am – Full Update 

Roads

Thanks again for checking out our traffic and travel service. Don’t forget to send in all of your tips to keep everyone up to date. That’s all from me today, I am heading over to the news desk now but will be back tomorrow from 6.30am.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic hotspots:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.45am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic hotspots:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.15am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.45am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate district this morning, particularly in Harrogate’s town centre.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.15am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate district this morning, particularly in Harrogate’s town centre.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

6.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

Harrogate district outdoor sports clubs welcome easing of restrictions

Outdoor sports in Harrogate are gearing up for a return today as the government eases lockdown restrictions.

As part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” out of lockdown, people can now meet up with six other people outside and play organised sport.

Sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, are allowed to reopen.

It comes as the “stay at home” rule in place for most of the national lockdown has also been lifted.

However, North Yorkshire Police has urged people to minimise travel and said the county should expect an “increased police presence” in the coming weeks.

Read more:

Among the sports that will be permitted as of today are cricket, football and rugby.

Steve Clark (left), chairman of Harrogate Cricket Club.

Steve Clark (left), chairman of Harrogate Cricket Club.

Steve Clark, chair of Harrogate Cricket Club, said the move was “good news” for the club ahead of the season starting in April.

He said:

“This is really good news for us.

“We can start to play cricket, but we are waiting for guidance from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“There is a pent up demand for mums and dads to come down and watch some cricket.”

The season is expected to start on April 16 for juniors.

However, the club is still awaiting guidance on how they can hold coaching sessions and whether games need to be stopped to sanitise the ball every six overs.

Police urge people to minimise travel

Police and public health officials have urged people to minimise travel and work from home where they can, despite restrictions being lifted.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, officers have also said there will be an increased police presence across the county.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police lead for the force’s covid response, said: 

“We will continue to play our part in tackling the public health crisis through the Easter holidays and beyond.

“Each district has patrol plans in place to ensure there are sufficient resources to provide reassurance and continue our ‘4 Es’ approach – to engage with the public, explain the regulations, encourage compliance, and enforce if there is no other way of dealing with breaches.

“The patrol plans will reflect any changes in legislation post March 29 as part of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. We will be able to communicate these changes and our approach once the new health protection regulations have been confirmed.

“When it is safe to do so, we will welcome visitors to the county again. However, everyone can expect to see an increased policing presence as we work alongside our partners to help keep the virus at bay in the weeks and months ahead.”

Bettys and Taylors to keep using tea supplier accused of sexual abuse

Harrogate company Bettys and Taylors has said it will continue trading with a supplier in Malawi that is being sued over the alleged sexual abuse of workers.

A Sunday Times article today revealed a group of tea pickers, many of them single mothers earning about £1 a day, have filed a claim in the High Court against Lujeri Tea Estates and its British owners. PGI Group.

The lawsuit alleges there is a ‘systematic problem of male workers at plantations abusing their positions of power’ to rape, sexually assault, harass and coerce women they supervise into sex.

It names 36 alleged male perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, which produces Yorkshire Tea, is one of several British companies named in the article for being supplied by Lujeri.

Unilever, whose tea brands include PG Tips and Lipton, and Tetley, are also named.

Bettys and Taylors published an 850-word statement on its website today saying ‘human rights abuses have no place in our supply chain’.

But it added at this stage it did not plan to cut ties with its suppliers in Malawi:

“We can’t improve things unless we’re involved, and that’s why news of something going wrong in our supply chain doesn’t immediately result in us walking away from a producer, which can be harmful for the people reliant on our trade for their livelihoods.

“A key foundation of sustainable trade is long-term relationships – and our contracts guarantee that we’ll buy for several years in advance, at a level above the Fairtrade minimum price, plus an additional premium for quality.

“In situations like this, companies will often immediately stop trading with a supplier to try and limit reputational damage to their brands.

“We understand why but it’s hard to overstate the impact of suddenly cutting off some of the world’s poorest workers and smallholders from their source of income.

“So our first position is to work with a supplier, understand what’s gone wrong and support them to develop plans to put things right. If that’s not something they can do, we’d stop buying from them.”

The statement added Bettys and Taylors’ suppliers were “engaging fully and openly with this process”.

Grant Bramsen, managing director of Lujeri Tea Estates, told the Sunday Times it was “deeply troubled by these allegations” and processes it had introduced to prevent abuse “did not go far enough”.

Read more:

 

St George Hotel in Harrogate set to re-open

One of Harrogate’s oldest and most famous hotels is set to re-open.

St George Hotel, opposite Harrogate Convention Centre in the town centre, has been closed for more than a year since the first lockdown began.

Previous owner Specialist Leisure Group went into administration in May with the loss of 2,500 jobs throughout the company.

Read more:

It is now owned by Bespoke Hotels, which was founded in 2000 by Haydn Fentum and Robin Sheppard and describes itself as ‘the UK’s largest independent hotel group’, with 120 properties.

Paul Donkin, general manager of York Pavilion Hotel, revealed on social media he was leaving his position to take on the challenge of re-opening the hotel and building a new team to bring the hotel back to its glory.

Mr Donkin, who lives in Harrogate and has extensive experience of the town’s hospitality sector having worked previously at the Cedar Court Hotel, the Old Swan Hotel and the Crown Hotel, told the Stray Ferret he would be happy to discuss the matter in more detail when he took up the role on April 7.

The hotel grew out of the Chequers Inn and was renamed after George III’s gift of the Stray to the people of Harrogate in 1778.

It was enlarged several times during the nineteenth century and renamed the St George shortly before the First World War.

It was badly damaged by fire in 1927 and requisitioned by the Post Office and Air Ministry during the Second World War before re-opening as a hotel in 1952. It acquired a spa facility in 1985.

It has 90 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar, library and terrace and its close proximity to the town centre makes it a popular spot for visitors.

Fire crews battle two deliberate blazes in Knaresborough woods

Fire crews were summoned twice in half an hour last night to two deliberate fires in the woods in Knaresborough.

The callouts were part of a busy night in the Harrogate district for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, which also attended two incidents in Harrogate.

The first woodland fire occurred at 6.55pm when bracken and tree branches were set alight at the bottom of Nidd Bank cul-de-sac, close to the River Nidd.

Less than half an hour later more branches were set ablaze on the other side of the river, opposite Conyngham Hall.

A crew from Knaresborough extinguished both fires using water backpacks.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“We can’t say for certain but it looks like the two fires were caused deliberately.”

Read more:

Crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough were then called to reports of a dishwasher emitting sparks in Rutland Road, Harrogate shortly after 11pm.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s incident summary says:

“The occupier of the property used a dry powder extinguisher before fire crews arrived.

“Crews disconnected the appliance from the mains and checked it over as well as giving advice. They used a thermal imaging camera only.

“The cause is believed to be an electrical fault.”

At 2.39am this morning, two crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough attended a small bag of rubbish set on fire in flats on Robert Street. A security guard had put out the flames by the time they arrived.

Police were also called to the scene.