A housing association block of flats in Harrogate has been put on lockdown as a murder investigation continues, police have said.

The Stray Ferret reported today that a man in his 50s was found dead at a flat on Harrogate’s Strawberry Dale last night (September 29).

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement officers discovered the body after being called to the flat just before 11pm.

Two men, aged 26 and 34, were arrested on suspicion of murder, while a third man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

They all remain in police custody.

The Stray Ferret went to the scene shortly after the statement was issued. A cordon was in place around the block of flats, which North Yorkshire Council said is owned by housing association Sanctuary. Three police vehicles and a crime scene investigation unit were in attendance.

We asked an officer, who was guarding the door from inside the property, if a police presence would stay in the area. 

The officer said the force will remain in the area overnight and into tomorrow, and confirmed the building was “on lockdown”.

The Stray Ferret contacted North Yorkshire Police to confirm what this meant – as we saw people going in and out of the building – but a spokesperson just confirmed the cordon remained in place. 

A resident of the building told the Stray Ferret he had left at 5am and “did not hear anything” during the incident. "People think this kind of thing doesn’t happen in Harrogate”, he added. 

Another nearby resident, who was walking home with her son, also said she did not hear anything during the night, but she saw the officers at the scene early this morning. 

An employee of Blueline Taxis, which has a base just a few doors down from the block of flats, said her colleagues did not hear any disruption until the police showed up.

She told the Stray Ferret she wasn’t working last night, but that is what she knew. 

This is the third murder within a matter of metres in the area on the edge of Harrogate town centre in just over three years. In 2021, Mark Wolsey was murdered in a bedsit on Mayfield Grove and Gracijus Balciauskas was murdered in a flat on the same street later the same year.

We will continue to provide updates as they become available.