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Jun 2020

Last Updated: 25/06/2020

Harrogate

The Stray in disarray: 'Biggest mess for six years'

by Connor Creaghan

| 25 Jun, 2020

In amongst the bin bags are empty beer bottles, takeaway boxes, and laughing gas canisters. The grass is also scorched in some areas and there were reports of people using the Stray as a public lavatory.

Hundreds of young people gathered on the Stray in the sunshine yesterday evening in what some described as a festival atmosphere.

A volunteer who has cleaned the Stray for the last six years described the aftermath this morning as the worst he ever has seen.

His comments came as council workers and volunteers cleaned up the majority of the mess - something which they have been forced to do more regularly in recent weeks.

In amongst the bin bags are empty beer bottles, takeaway boxes, and laughing gas canisters. The grass is also scorched in some areas and there were reports of people using the Stray as a public lavatory.

The Stray Ferret found remnants of waste this morning and spoke to disgruntled locals.

Mike Lewis said that last night's events have put him off going for his evening strolls on the Stray. He said this morning:

"It's just vile to see. I don't have a problem with these young people enjoying themselves but when they leave all of this it is poor. I have been cleaning up the Stray for six years but this is the worst I have ever seen. This is outrageous."

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He described it as a losing battle and called for tougher punishments for offenders. Those calls are something the Stray Defence Association (SDA) is backing.

Judy d'Arcy Thompson, who is chair of the SDA, told The Stray Ferret:

"Several public spirited people have helped by collecting litter. Sadly, those efforts are swamped by the avalanche of rubbish others leave. It is disgraceful. We are doing our very best to get those in authority to deal with it."

Roger Hattam was on the Stray last night and took pictures of large groups. He told The Stray Ferret:

"I understand that these are young people trying to have a good time. We just need the council and the police to monitor the situation and talk to them. We need to make sure they aren't spreading coronavirus to any elderly relatives."

What are the authorities doing about it?

Harrogate Borough Council has issued a robust response to the litter this morning and labelled those responsible as selfish.

“Unfortunately these people don’t even bother to use any of the many bins provided and just leave rubbish where they were sitting. We are doing what we can with the resources available and have increased our collections to try and manage the problem."

The council also said that it already spends hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ money every year to pick up litter.

https://twitter.com/OscarRomeo1268/status/1275997917300641793

North Yorkshire Police inspector Paul Cording was out on the Stray at 4.30am today. He posted a video on Twitter where he described it as "the morning after the night before".

"It is absolutely strewn with litter. There's even some clear plastic zip bags and an awful lot of laughing gas canisters. The other thing I would describe is broken window theory. If one person thinks it's okay to drop litter then everyone else will as well."

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The Stray in disarray: 'Biggest mess for six years'

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What are the authorities doing about it?