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08
Mar 2021
Fake account uses porn star's image to attack Harrogate cycling plans
A fake Facebook profile has been using the image of a porn star from Liverpool to whip up anti-cycling sentiment in Harrogate.
Harrogate resident James Smith, who is pro-cycling, told the Stray Ferret he and his friends recently became suspicious of a group of six Facebook accounts which they believed not to be genuine.
Mr Smith said for several weeks the accounts have been posting fervently anti-cycling opinions on any posts related to the pedestrianisation of James Street and the Station Gateway.
One account in particular, Tara Gunne, was the most prolific. A letter attributed to her was published in last week's Harrogate Advertiser, with the supposed Ms Gunne passionately stating "this destruction of our characterful town has to stop."
Mr Smith said:
Their suspicions were confirmed when a friend of Mr Smith used his tech skills to investigate Tara Gunne. He discovered the account was using an image of Liverpool-based adult entertainment star Hazel May.
Read more:
Call for public to engage with Harrogate Station Gateway plans
1,000 sign petition calling for Oatlands cycling plans to be scrapped
Mr Smith said they confronted the accounts over the weekend asking them "why are they so excited about Harrogate"?. He believes all six accounts could be related to Tara Gunne.
All mysteriously disappeared from Facebook by Sunday morning and appeared to have been deleted.
Mr Smith isn't sure who is behind the account but suspects it could be people from outside of Harrogate looking to sway public opinion against active travel schemes.
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