Editor’s Pick of the Week: Bridge over not-so-troubled water in Harrogate and the floating Fiesta in Ripon

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The dead hand of bureaucracy proved this week it can suck the joy out of the loveliest corners in Harrogate.

Ten days ago, North Yorkshire Council slapped a closure order on Spruisty Bridge over Oak Beck in Knox.

The former packhorse bridge is a delightful place to linger and a handy structure to cross if you’re travelling on bike or foot between Killinghall and Harrogate and don’t fancy dodging cars at New Park roundabout.

It emerged this week that all that’s happened is one of the handrails has come out of its socket, a “modest proposition” to fix, according to Bilton Conservation Group. But the closure notice covers until December 23 and there’s no word when repair work might happen. Some people have even taken to crossing the beck on foot to avoid the detour.

Frustration is also mounting in Ripon over the curious case of the Fiesta in the River Ure.

The car has been bobbing around near Sharow since Christmas Eve and Ripon City Council wants it removed. But who is responsible? The Environment Agency has said it isn’t a pollution hazard, which seems a curious way of looking at a car in a river, and appears to have washed its hands of responsibility. So have other agencies.

Perhaps the car could become a local landmark, like the Loch Noss Monster, attracting sightseers when the water level drops.

At least neither the River Ure nor Oak Beck turned green this week, as the River Crimple did in Pannal. And not just slightly green, but a weirdly fluorescent hue.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch made her second recent visit to Harrogate this week to launch the Conservatives’ election campaign for next year’s council elections in Yorkshire.

Labour leader-in-waiting Andy Burnham was criticised this week for not taking questions from reporters. It would be nice to think Ms Badenoch will grant the Stray Ferret five minutes when she next drops by, as much as we appreciate party apparatchiks filling us in afterwards.

Another party making plans for next year’s North Yorkshire Council elections is Restore Britain, which told us this week it was recruiting candidates.

Local Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke, whose Wetherby and Easingwold constituency includes Linton-on-Ouse, was in the news a lot this week for opposing plans to open an asylum centre at the former RAF base near the village.

But it also emerged Sir Alec had bagged his second freebie in recent weeks. Last time it was football, this time it was three-day eventing.

Perhaps the sports-loving MP will be equally keen to watch the men’s Tour of Britain’s cycling race when it sweeps through Boroughbridge, Ripon and Pateley Bridge on September 5.

British Cycling is organising a sportive event the week before, which will give members of the public the chance to ride the route. Sounds fun, but paying to ride on roads I’ve cycled on many times is an interesting concept.