Residents of Scargill Road in Harrogate who lived near ‘nightmare neighbour’ Yoko Banks said they might have a street party after she was sentenced to three-and-a-half-years in prison for drug offences last week.
The 73-year-old businesswoman rented out her properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road to an Albanian gang for “industrial” cannabis production.
Richard Heritage, who is close friends with an elderly couple who lived next door to Ms Banks on Scargill Road, told the Stray Ferret that neighbours have suffered years of bad behaviour from the guesthouse owner and her mastiff dog. He described Ms Banks as “infamous” in Harrogate.
He said:
“The first thing one resident of Scargill Road told me when they heard she was sentenced was, ‘we ought to get a street party organised’.”
Mr Heritage said Ms Banks lived in the house on-and-off for many years before moving into it full time before the first covid lockdown in March 2020. The street is off Ripon Road near the Harrogate Hydro.
He alleges her dog was allowed to roam the street unattended and would bite other animals.
“The dog tried, two or three times, to attack my friend’s cross-breed. The dog roamed the street. It could have been a child.
“People would call Harrogate Borough Council’s dog wardens and the police who would never do anything about it.”
He also alleges the dog even attempted to bite a postman, which led the Royal Mail to suspend deliveries on the street from December 2020 to February 2021. Residents had to go to the sorting office on Claro Road to collect their post.
The Royal Mail confirmed the incident took place when asked by the Stray Ferret and said deliveries only resumed when Ms Banks put a fence up to keep the dog away from postal staff.
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Mr Heritage said there would be arguments and shouting coming from Ms Banks house often late into the night. He also said she would pile her garden high with unwanted objects, including three abandoned vehicles.
“She felt she could do whatever she wanted without being questioned. She’d tell my friends to f*** off.”
He said whilst residents are relieved she is now behind bars, they are worried that she will return to Scargill Road when she is released.
“They’ve had 12 years of her. It’s been a hard 12 years for them. It’s never relaxed and it’s been constant all the time.
“People ended up not calling the police. They said, ‘Whats the point? they never come out’.
“Will prison will teach her a lesson? At 73 years old she’s very set in her ways.”
A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:
“We provided the dog owner with guidance and advice on how to properly manage her dog. Any enforcement action would be a police matter.”
North Yorkshire Police told the Stray Ferret that there was no investigation into Ms Banks’ treatment of her dog.
