The main A61 through Harrogate was shut this lunchtime after a multiple car pile up in which a pedestrian was injured.

Police have not released details of how seriously the pedestrian has been hurt. An ambulance was called to the scene.

The accident happened this lunchtime – diversions were set up around Parliament Street as police closed the road to deal with the incident.

The A61 has since re-opened.

North Yorkshire Police has asked anyone who may have seen the collision to contact Mark Hutchings of the major Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or email Mark.Hutchings@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

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For the seventh consecutive day there have been no reported deaths at Harrogate District Hospital of patients who tested positive for coronavirus.

The last recorded death at the hospital happened on June 18, meaning that it remains at 80 deaths for another day with 135 patient discharges.

A further 78 people, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died- 4 in the Yorkshire and North East region.  It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 28,635.

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Patients were aged between 56 and 97 years old.   Two patients, aged 73 and 96, had no known underlying health conditions.

A new fruit and veg shop has opened on Harlow Hill in Harrogate after a lockdown pop-up proved a huge hit with the community.

Mike and Donna Schofield, owners of The Shepherd’s Dog on Harlow Hill, set up a temporary greengrocery store during lockdown, but business was so good, they’ve decided to open a permanent shop.

The couple were forced to close their pub as lockdown struck, and they began doing weekly shops for their neighbours.

When they couldn’t get their hands on fresh fruit and vegetables, Mike and Donna decided to open a pop-up grocery shop behind their pub.

Wharfedale Fruiterers source all their produce locally

Since setting up their small stall nearly seven weeks ago, trade has boomed, getting “bigger and bigger” every day. The couple have now signed a five-year lease on what was a barber shop on Otley Road and turned it into Wharfedale Fruiterers.

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Mike, who has previously worked in the fruit and vegetable trade for big supermarkets, has been going to Leeds market every day for produce. He told The Stray Ferret:

“People are buying little and often. We are getting repeat services day in and day out, people get what they need for that day and they know they are getting it fresh from market.”

Inside the new shop.

The shop owners have been sourcing their other produce from local companies such as The Yorkshire Cheese Company and Brymor Ice Cream. Donna told The Stray Ferret:

“It was lovely having the pop-up shop but people wanted more. If we can give the locals that bit more then we will”

Resident David Silkstone, who was out buying his groceries when The Stray Ferret visited the shop, said:

“We’ve stopped buying most of our fruit and veg from Ocado and are buying from here instead. We used to have a butchers, a post office and a fish and chip shop, so to have a fruiterer here is fantastic.”

Harrogate Gymnastics Club, led by head coach Chloe Carey, is “excited to be back” after over three months off.

Since closing the gym doors on March 18, the gymnasts have been taking part in online sessions and competitions via zoom. However, they are now able to train in small groups and have set up an ‘outdoor gym’ in order to keep practicing.

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The gymnasts videoed all compete at national level but have unfortunately missed out on this year’s competition due to coronavirus.

The gymnasts train in small groups and are socially distant at all times.

However, the girls are now determined than ever to get their training in as they wait for the go ahead on future competitions.

North Yorkshire County Council has published its coronavirus outbreak plan which includes the roll out of antibody tests and daily calls to care homes.

The plan recognises the higher than average elderly population in Harrogate, at 23.1%, by including plans to work with care homes. Plans to ensure quick, localised responses to a suspected outbreak are in place. Each care home will also receive daily calls from a contact worker and allocated its own liason officer.

The plan details how testing will be developed locally – mobile testing units will continue to be distributed and antibody testing will be rolled out.

For complex cases that cannot be followed up over the phone or via the test and trace app a tailored approach will be taken by a core team to provide the necessary support.

Research into specific areas with high rates of transmission has also been taken to ensure support is targeted correctly. Key agencies and organisations will work alongside the county council to ensure those in a vulnerable or high risk category are looked after.

The NHS test and trace system will continue to be used, but strategies will now be focused at a local level.

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The plan also details a number of groups which will be set up to work at local and regional levels to develop outbreak plans as lockdown eases and provide public-facing communication.

Alongside these initiatives, those introduced at the beginning of the outbreak will continue. For example, social distancing and thorough hand washing will continue to be encouraged.

Hairdressers will be allowed to reopen from 4 July – and clearly it’s not a moment too soon for many people in Harrogate.

The Stray Ferret has been out asking people whether they are ready to get back into the chair…

“I can’t wait, can’t you tell… look at my roots”

“I’m walking around with a mop on my head… I had to trim my sideburns as my wife said I looked like the guy from life on mars.”

“I have managed to get an appointment for the 24th July… So I coloured it for the last time last night… I am never doing that again!”

For over three months people have been cooped up, turning to kitchen scissors, freshly-bought clippers or DIY dye kits to keep their hair in check.

But now hairdressers across the country are getting ready to welcome customers for much-needed fixes and trims after getting the green light to open next Saturday.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any coronavirus deaths for the last six days.

The last recorded death at the hospital happened on June 18, meaning that it remains at 80 deaths for another day with 135 patient discharges.

It comes as hospitals in England report another 67 deaths. Hospitals in the North East and Yorkshire made up 13 of those deaths.

Read more:

• When Harrogate care homes recorded 90 deaths
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Patients were aged between 52 and 98 years old. One patient, aged 86, had no known underlying health conditions.

Harrogate hospital said yesterday that it has not admitted any new coronavirus patients for eight days. It also said it is at the lowest number of inpatients since the start of lockdown.

A hotel worker from The Crown Hotel in Harrogate has been spending his mornings cleaning up the Stray after it turned into ‘an absolute eyesore’ over the last three days.

Andrew Langley has been furloughed from working at the hotel and decided to do his bit for the district:

” I have been out all week picking up beer cans, pizza boxes and all whatever else. It’s something I feel I have to do. It had been ok up until now but the past three days it’s been packed with people and its been left in such a state, there should be a fine or something.”

Vandals have pulled up young trees on the Stray in the evening that police officers cracked down on large groups.

Community police officers tried to disperse some of the larger groups yesterday and reminded them of the social distancing guidelines.

Some rebutted the officers and claimed that they were all in different groups of six or that they were all from the same family.

The levels of litter this morning were not close to the mounds of rubbish left the day before. A new problem has emerged this morning but it is unclear who is responsible.

Read more:

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Judy d’Arcy Thompson from the Stray Defence Association (SDA) said this morning that the uprooting of trees just adds to the “horrendous destruction.”

“We now seem to have marauding gangs of youths wreaking mayhem on our Stray. The drunken, lewd and downright disgusting behaviour is going on all night every night. There seems to be no limit to what they will do or how disgusting their behaviour can become.”

Police dispersed groups on the Stray yesterday evening.

She added that the SDA has seen reports of mass gatherings, drug-taking and dealing on a huge scale as well as youngsters urinating and defecating.

An SDA committee member Guy Tweedy had planted the trees in memory of several people.

The Stray Ferret has approached both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police for a comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Harrogate has lost its “feel-good factor” due to poorly designed housing being built in the town, according to a key member of Harrogate’s Civic Society.

Speaking to The Stray Ferret, Stuart Holland, joint chairman of the group, warned that the housing is putting the town’s “unique ambience” under strain.

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However, he said it can still be protected through good design.

He said:

“We’ve got to encourage better design but we won’t change it overnight.”

Several major housing schemes have been built across the district in recent years, with more in the pipeline as part of Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan.

Yet the design of many of the new homes are a familiar source of complaint for people living here.

Formed 40 years ago, the civic society published a new strategy earlier this month that hopes to influence better housing design.

Mr Holland hopes the strategy can help the group reinvent itself so it’s more relevant to a new generation of people who care about the town.

But what would the Victorian architects who designed heritage buildings like the Pump Rooms, Royal Hall and have to say about the new housing schemes?

According to Mr Holland, they would “be horrified”.

He added:

“They’d say they’re so small, they lack detail. But we’re spoilt in Harrogate with the architecture we’ve got. We can’t expect to be building the homes of the late 1880s.”