North Yorkshire Police has admitted it did not get its response to a large gathering and drug use on the Stray last month “100% right”.
It comes as hundreds of people gathered on the Stray last month where police found canisters of laughing gas and empty takeaway boxes and beer bottles in what was described as a “festival atmosphere”.
Now, Steve Thomas, detective superintendent at North Yorkshire Police and commander for Harrogate, has said the force did not “get to grips” on the gathering quickly enough.
He apologised to councillors on a Harrogate Borough Council scrutiny committee for the initial response but added the force will now respond earlier to such incidents.
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He said:
“I’m really sorry that we were not able to get to grips with it in time for it not to affect the people that reported it to us.
“I was working on the evening that it happened and as soon as we were aware, we deployed through the force control room additional resources.
“Unfortunately, once you get a gathering of that size, it is a question of trying to engage as best as possible and trying to encourage them to remove litter in a sensible way.
“It was quite difficult and I’m not saying that we got that entirely right but we certainly learned from it.
“What we did from that point onwards is increase our patrol strategy to make sure that we were earlier to engage with the groups rather than letting it get either too big or too much alcohol consumed.”
Since the incident, police have sought to educate on the use of laughing gas and issued a warning after finding an “awful lot” of canisters.
Steve Thomas, detective superintendent at North Yorkshire Police (middle right), answered questions from Harrogate Borough Council’s scrutiny committee.
Speaking about the dangers of inhaling the gas, Sergeant Heidi Lewis, children & young people engagement officer, said:
“People may believe that because this gas is widely available and easily purchased, that it is harmless. However, inhaling this gas can lead to unconsciousness and ultimately suffocation, as the body is essentially starved of oxygen.
So when you know the risks irresponsible use of this gas poses, it’s not so much of a laugh is it?”
Early morning rant alert. Part 1 of 2 #Harrogate #Stray #Sunshine pic.twitter.com/nDyqaC9eF3
— T/Inspector Paul Cording (@OscarRomeo1268) June 25, 2020
Following the gathering, volunteers and council staff cleaned up the Stray with one describing it as the “biggest mess in six years”.
It comes as North Yorkshire Police still tops forces across the country for the most coronavirus fines handed out since March.
The force handed out a total of 1,171 fines to people breaching coronavirus regulations up to June 22 with the majority of the fines issued to people visiting the county’s beauty spots.
Officers said most visitors had come from West Yorkshire to the county.
