A local firm has stepped in to restore the information plaque in Harrogate’s Stonefall Park after it was damaged by vandals.

The plaque, which gives visitors information on the history of the park, including Queen Victoria passing on the former train line that ran alongside it, is thought to have been smashed with a rock on March 20 or 21 this year.

Police said it was hit with “considerable force”. At the time, it was estimated it would cost £300 to repair.

However, a local firm Platinum Print, came forward and offered to repair the damage for free.

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Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh, whose Hookstone ward includes the park, said the move had restored her faith in the local community.

She said:

“Hookstone and Stonefall Action Group were totally taken aback by such a generous offer and now the results of that work are clear for everyone to see and enjoy again. It has restored our faith in our community.

“When we saw the devastation created by these mindless people, we thought it would take a lot of time to fundraise to repair but Platinum Print came to our rescue and we and the wider community, cannot thank them enough.”

Three men from Harrogate are running three marathons in three days this weekend to raise money in memory of their friend James Hindmarsh.

James died aged 24 in April after being diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Henry Bartle, Ollie Ward and Jeremy Butterfield will run 26.2 miles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to raise funds for Sarcoma UK, which helps people with all forms of sarcoma cancers.

The three friends pledged to complete fundraising events for James’ medical treatment when he was alive and now that he has died they have vowed to continue.

James Hindmarsh

On Friday and Saturday, the trio will run along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal from Bradley in Craven to the centre of Leeds. On Sunday, they will complete four laps of Harrogate, finishing on West Park.

Henry said:

“We’re nervous and apprehensive but excited to get going now. It’s all for James, it’s all in his memory. He would have wanted us to go ahead with it. Sarcoma UK is such an underfunded charity and the condition is so rare, there’s been little development in treatment since the 1980s.

“All the money is going towards research and development or new drugs. We want to raise awareness.”

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James’ cancer was so rare his family and friends had to look abroad for treatment. They now want to ensure Sarcoma UK has funds to continue researching treatment to help other families.

So far £30,000 has been pledged via the JustGiving page.

Three other friends have taken on other fundraising challenges in memory of James. Joe Braham skied through the night from Verbier in Switzerland to the summit of Mont Fort.

Luca Peterson and Harry Halsall completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the Lake District Three Peaks in two consecutive days.

Police are appealing for witnesses after an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on Harrogate’s King’s Road on Tuesday.

The victim, an 11-year-old girl, was making her way home from school at about 3.15pm.

As she approached the junction with Chatsworth Grove, a man approached from behind and placed one hand on her hip and another hand on her waist and made a sexually inappropriate comment to her.

The girl ran away and arrived home upset and shaken.

It occurred just a day after a woman died suddenly in a similar location on King’s Road.

North Yorkshire Police described the girl’s attacker as white, in his 40s, around 5ft 8 with dark, greying hair that was short on one side but longer on the other.

He also has a distinctive mole above his right eyebrow.

He was wearing a red jumper, khaki coloured trousers and black Nike trainers with white laces. The girl said he had a rough Yorkshire accent.

‘Disturbing but rare incident’

Speaking about the incident, Sergeant Alex Sellars, from the Harrogate Neighbourhood Policing Team said;

“This is a disturbing incident which has understandably left the victim very shaken and upset.

“She has been incredibly brave when speaking to police and has been able to give us a detailed description of the man who approached her. Officers will be conducting further enquiries in the area, but we would appreciate the public’s assistance in helping us to identifying this man.

“With the incident taking place at the end of the school day, the area would have been busy with parents and children making their way home. If you were passing on the school run, please can you take a moment to recall your journey, or check your car dash-cams – did you see a man in the area who fits the description? If so, please do get in touch with us.”

Sergeant Sellars added incidents like this were “rare in North Yorkshire”, adding:

“Please be assured that we take reports of this nature very seriously and our officers are committed to ensuring public safety.”

Police said in a statement they were keen to speak to anyone who was in the area of Kings Road and Chatsworth Grove at 3.15pm who may have witnessed the incident, or anyone who recognises the description of the man.

Anyone with information can dial 101, select option 2 and speak to the force control room quoting reference 12210125274.

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Update: This missing man from Starbeck has been found safe and well. The police have thanked residents and said their calls were “crucial”.

North Yorkshire Police has appealed for help locating a missing man from Starbeck.

Andrew Macleod, 54, is described as white, 6ft tall, slim build, having short grey hair and tattoos on top of his arms.

He was last seen wearing pale blue jeans, a blue puffa jacket and possibly brown suede leather boots.

Police issued the appeal this afternoon. No photo of Mr Macleod has been released and it is not known how long he has been missing.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quote reference number 264.

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Bakers Warburtons is to open a pop-up cake shop in Harrogate next week.

The former Swarovski store at 36 James Street, which once sold diamonds, will now sell cakes throughout the summer.

The shop will sell the newly-launched Ellie Warburtons cakes, which come in eight flavours, including cookie dough and raspberry with passion fruit compote. It will not sell bread.

The cakes are being launched on a trial basis in temporary stores in Harrogate and Skipton, which will be open all summer.

People will be able to buy the cakes online after their national launch on June 21.

The group behind a petition against the Station Gateway proposals has criticised the councils responsible for “ploughing ahead” with the scheme despite what it called “inconclusive” consultation results.

Yesterday it was agreed that designs will be drawn up for the controversial £7.9m project, which could see the pedestrianisation of James Street and Station Parade reduced to one lane of traffic.

A public consultation on the plans this year found 45% of 1,101 respondents in favour of the full pedestrianisation of James Street; 32% said no changes should be made and 17% backed a partial pedestrianisation.

For Station Parade, 49% favoured an option to reduce traffic to one lane, while 27% said it should be retained as two lanes and 24% said neither option was workable.

North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council both support the project, which is being funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

It aims to make the area around the station more accessible and attractive, especially to pedestrians and cyclists.

But Anna McIntee, co-founder of the Harrogate Residents Association, which has amassed 800 Facebook members since it was formed three months ago, fiercely opposes the scheme.

Her group is behind a petition against the Station Gateway that has so far achieved over 500 signatures and one against the planters on James Street that has received over 800.

Ms McIntee said the results from the council’s consultation were ‘inconclusive’ because of the modest response and the fact that there was not overwhelming support for any proposal.

Just over 1,000 people, in a district with over 157,000 people, responded to the survey.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“Why aren’t they listening? There’s a lot of anger in the town and they are just ploughing ahead.

“This town has incredible people with incredible ideas. Is this the best we can come up with?”

“It will create a complete funnel neck of traffic.”

Read more:

• Explainer: Station Gateway Project

• Full steam ahead on Harrogate’s £7.9 million Station Gateway project

Speaking at a North Yorkshire County meeting yesterday, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said the council had listened to businesses.

He said:

“We have been lobbied quite strongly by the business community in Harrogate, of whom one or two members seem to think the gateway scheme is intended to make life more difficult for them. Those comments could not be further from the truth.

“The whole purpose behind the gateway scheme is to make all three of these town centres more attractive to visitors, especially those who want to come and spend money in our shops, restaurants and pubs.”

Traffic evaporation

Last week a report commissioned by the county council said in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” the Station Gateway plans could increase greenhouse gas emissions.

It said this was because reduced traffic flow in the area would force some drivers to take longer alternative routes.

However, it also said the council would refine the scheme to ensure it is environmentally friendly.

Rod Beardshall, transport lead at Zero Carbon Harrogate told the Stray Ferret he disputed this suggestion that traffic would increase elsewhere due to a phenomenon known as “traffic evaporation”.

He said:

“Essentially traffic is not a zero-sum game. It isn’t an inevitability that the same amount of traffic will exist independently of the road availability. The phenomenon of ‘induced traffic’ refers to the increase in traffic over and above what would otherwise have been predicted when new roads are built.

“Conversely ‘traffic evaporation’ is widely seen when road space is reduced. It is this latter phenomenon which will mitigate against increases in congestion elsewhere, and crucially, reduce overall traffic and therefore its environmental impact as people are incentivised to consider other travel options.

“It is always worth repeating that this doesn’t imply that all travellers will seek alternative means of transport and nor do they need to, but enough are likely to for the proposed changes to bring positive results. Those journeys where a car or a van is the only practical option will still be possible and won’t take significantly longer according to the report.”

With the designs due to go to consultation, the Station Parade battle looks set to continue for some time.

A coroner has opened an inquest into this month’s suspected murder-suicide at the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel.

The inquest yesterday heard how Chenise Gregory and Michael McGibbon, who were both aged 29, died in a room at the hotel on May 4. They were found at 10.20pm.

John Broadbridge, assistant coroner for North Yorkshire and York, told the inquest:

“Chenise Gregory and Michael McGibbon died on May 4. They were found unresponsive, having suffered evident stab wounds.

“This was opened in Northallerton and adjourned for a full inquest, which should be held within the next three months.”

The full inquest will investigate how the pair, from London, died and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

North Yorkshire Police has said it believed Ms Gregory was murdered by Mr McGibbon, who then killed himself.

Read more:

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• Police confirm man and woman died at Harrogate’s Majestic

Devante Gravesande-Smith, a barrister from London who was a cousin of Ms Gregory, has described her as a “loving and caring person, whose smile would light up a room”.

He claimed she was “lured to her death at the hands of her controlling and manipulative ex-boyfriend”.

Druids Cricket Club, the historic Harrogate club founded in 1915, has appointed Garry Irvine as its president.

Mr Irvine is a former Druids captain as well as an outstanding rugby union player who captained Harrogate RUFC and represented an Anglo-Scots XV against the All Blacks.

His appointment follows the death of previous president Simon Corner, a much-respected figure in the Harrogate area.

Druids is a nomadic social cricket club that celebrated its centenary in 2015 with a match against the famous MCC.

Such is the club’s standing that it was invited to play Yorkshire as part of former England Test bowler Ryan Sidebottom’s testimonial year.

Mr Irvine said:

“It’s an enormous honour to be appointed president of this famous club, following in the footsteps of the legendary Simon Corner.

“I’m determined to carry on the great work that Simon and previous presidents have done over the past 100 years in maintaining the great traditions of fun and fair play that the Druids were founded upon.

“As a club, we’d also love to welcome new people to become part of this great Harrogate institution, whether as players or supporters.”

The club plays friendly fixtures against other social or local Harrogate clubs, usually on Sundays.

Players of all abilities and supporters are very welcome to join the Druids.

For more information, visit the club’s Facebook page or contact club secretary Mark Moorby at melmoorby@hotmail.com.

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Harrogate Borough Council has apologised for wrongly sending letters to residents threatening them with court action for not paying council tax.

A Harrogate resident, who asked not to be named, alerted the Stray Ferret to the council letter dated May 21.

The letter asked for three months of council tax instalments and threatened a court summons, plus costs, if payment wasn’t received by Friday this week.

However, only two months of council tax, April and May, were due by that date, which meant the demand for June’s payment was made prematurely.

The source claimed the local authority’s council tax department had been “overrun with angry council taxpayers” who had received similar letters.

He described the episode as “an administrative cock-up”, adding:

“At a time when many people are struggling financially and being faced with a council tax increase above the rate of inflation, I wonder why Harrogate Borough Council didn’t check their facts more carefully before acting in such a heavy-handed way?

“Even if the figures were correct in the first place they should be showing more consideration towards people and trying to help rather than intimidate them.”

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A council spokesman said:

“Unfortunately, residents who receive council tax reminder notices, have this month been issued with the wrong payment figure. It incorrectly included the June instalment figure as well as May.

“Anyone who received this reminder notice will receive a replacement notice in the next couple of days. We’d like to apologise for any confusion or inconvenience this has caused.”

The Stray Ferret has asked how many people received the demand for June’s payment but the council has so far declined to reveal the information.

Public health bosses are to examine why North Yorkshire’s covid vaccine uptake is significantly above the national average.

They will use the findings to tackle concerns over declining uptake of other jabs, such as MMR and meningitis.

North Yorkshire County Council‘s director of public health Louise Wallace told a meeting of the council’s executive one focus would be on whether transport and the location of vaccination centres had made it easy for residents to access Pfizer and Astra-Zeneca vaccines used in the county.

She was speaking just two days after the authority announced it would close vaccination sites at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse in August, saying mobile vaccination units would help to target areas reporting a sudden surge in covid cases.

A report to the meeting stated some 64.98% of the county’s population, excluding children, have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine, compared to the average rate across England of 53.38%.

The council and the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum have been providing logistical support around venues, transportation, volunteers and waste disposal for the vaccination programme, which is being overseen by the multi-agency North Yorkshire and York Vaccination Assurance Group, chaired by Ms Wallace.

The group aims to identify where there may be low levels in vaccine uptake and implement interventions to ensure equity in the vaccination rollout across North Yorkshire and York.

After hearing of the relatively high rate of covid vaccine uptake in the county,  the council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee chairman Councillor John Ennis asked whether officials would use the lessons learned as a springboard to tackle recognised low take-up rates of other vaccinations in the county, such as MMR.

The latest NHS digital figures, which were published in September 2019, show while coverage had continued to decline in all routine vaccinations across the country, North Yorkshire had a lower uptake than a number of its neighbours.

Read more:

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The county’s vaccination uptake rate for the two-dose MMR vaccine stood at 89% compared to 96% in County Durham and close to 95% in areas such as north Lincolnshire and Barnsley.

Medics have warned falling childhood immunisation rates risk a resurgence of deadly and life-changing diseases of the past. Public health experts have advised successful vaccination programmes need a “system-wide approach” saying services had become “fragmented” since changes were made to public health commissioning in 2012.

While Ms Wallace’s predecessor last year warned the county’s public health services were facing difficult choices due to cuts in Government funding, she told the meeting she would be prioritising vaccination programmes.

She said the authority had used its experiences from previous vaccination programmes, such as flu and MMR, to maximise coverage with the covid vaccine.

Ms Wallace said:

“We will be taking some of the lessons that we’ve learnt and looking at why this vaccination programme has got quite a high uptake overall

“We have got quite a lot of learning as to why people bought into this and we will be looking at why some people have vaccine hesitancy and try and myth-bust.”