The school holidays are underway, the weather is warm — what better way to enjoy the dog days of summer than by splashing around in the River Nidd at Knaresborough Lido? Alas, you’d probably be better off swimming in the North Sea at Scarborough while leaving your chips on the beach and hoping the seagulls don’t nab them.

This week we reported how the latest Environment Agency monitoring data for the faecal bacteria E. coli at the Lido was 10 times higher than the figure deemed to be adequate. The reading is usually elevated after heavy rain so considering the relatively dry spell, the news is even more concerning.

Fortunately the pools at the Paris Olympics are likely to be somewhat cleaner. Ripon produced Britain’s most successful diver ever, Jack Laugher, but he revealed this week how even being an Olympic gold medallist doesn’t butter many parsnips when he talked openly about his decision to set up an OnlyFans site to fund his diving career.

The Conservatives may have lost the general election and the North Yorkshire mayoral election, but they retain control of North Yorkshire Council — just. This week they showed how ruthlessly they will defend this before the next council election in 2027.

The slender Tory majority won in 2022 has been eroded by defections and by-election defeats to the point where the party is now propped up by three independents to maintain control.

Bilton and Nidd Gorge councillor Paul Haslam found out how unforgiving his former colleagues could be be this week when he was ousted as the council’s climate champion. Cllr Haslam took up the role last year, when he was a Conservative councillor, but he relinquished the party whip in spring to contest the mayoral election and the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat in the general election as an independent.

There was no suggestion he wasn’t up to the job when he was deposed at this week’s full council meeting and replaced by Cllr David Hugill, a Conservative who represents Hutton Rudby and Osmotherley.

It was a quick and efficient killing that sent a message to anyone considering abandoning the Conservative ship. Et tu, Brute.