Boroughbridge family wait 10 months for developer to replace tree

A family in Boroughbridge is still waiting for a developer to replace a tree that its workers chopped down 10 months ago.

With a new estate being built nearby, Wayne and Cally England were used to the sound of construction but were nevertheless surprised to see a man with a chainsaw in their garden at around 8am on January 6.

When they went out to question him, he told them that he had already started cutting the tree and it was no longer safe so it had to come down.

The worker chopping down the tree.

Taylor Wimpey apologised at the time and offered to replace the tree and install a new fence. However, 10 months later this has yet to happen.

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Mr England initially believed the tree was on a boundary between his home and the land owned by the developer.

But after the incident he commissioned a geospatial survey, which found the tree was fully on his family’s land. Mr England told the Stray Ferret:

“The kids were crying, I am not laying anything on, they were in tears. It turned out that Taylor Wimpey had been talking to a neighbour who approved the work.

“Taylor Wimpey owned up to the mistake but have done nothing afterwards.

“We had been sending emails back and forth but since I sent in the survey they have not responded. Do they think they can leave it alone and it will go away?

“We want the fence on the boundary and another tree. A lot of people have gone on about compensation but I am not after the money. We just want the tree back.”

The stump of the felled tree.

In emails to Mr England, Taylor Wimpey claimed the tree was damaged and therefore unsafe.

Mr England has always disputed the claim. A tree survey he commissioned found it was healthy and would have lived for another 20 to 40 years.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said:

“We would like to reiterate our regret for any upset caused by removing the tree in Mr England’s garden for health and safety reasons.

“We have been in contact with Mr England to apologise for the delay in replacing the fence and to schedule the works as soon as possible.”

Boroughbridge pub owner feels lucky to survive fire

One of the owners of a pub near Boroughbridge that caught fire over the weekend has said he and his partner are lucky to be alive.

Brian Rey and Elaine Howden, who have owned the Ship Inn at Aldborough for 13 years, were woken at about 2am on Sunday by a ringing sound.

Mr Rey went to the door at the top of the stairs to investigate but as soon as he opened it he was met by a wall of smoke. He said:

“My godfathers, it was really thick white smoke. I thought there was something wrong with my eyes but then I started struggling to breathe.

“So I called Elaine over for us to get out but we couldn’t make it through the smoke. We had some face masks in the room so we put a few of them together and escaped.

“We really were lucky to get out. If that fire had been anywhere else but the store room which is surrounded by concrete then the whole building could have come down.”

The fire service believes the tumble dryer on the right is the likely cause of the fire.

Firefighters from Ripon, Thirsk, Knaresborough and Harrogate were called to the scene. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service later said it believed the blaze started in a tumble dryer.

However, Mr Rey is unsure whether the tumble dryer was in fact the source of the problems. He said they never used it after 5pm and he had smelled something unusual near the fridge earlier that night.

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Since the fire, the local community has rallied behind the pub.

Both the Grantham Arms and the General Tarleton owners have offered help and people have donated £700 to a gofundme page set up by local resident Sam Stoddart to help the Ship Inn recover from the fire.

The store room is filled with melted appliances. The walls and ceilings are black from the aftermath.

Mr Rey added his thanks for the support:

“The people in the village have been very helpful. We have taken plenty of phone calls from people who have wanted to wish us luck.

“With the fundraiser we were at a bit of a loss. We only found out when a journalist asked us about it. There still is that friendly spirit, I thought those days had gone.”

Pub owners ‘devastated’ after overnight fire in Harrogate district

A country pub near Boroughbridge is closed indefinitely after fire broke out in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters from Ripon, Thirsk, Knaresborough and Harrogate were summoned to the Ship Inn at Aldborough after a fire alarm went off in the kitchen at about 2am.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s incident log said:

“Crews discovered a fire in the kitchen believed to have originated from a tumble dryer.”

“Crews used 2 hose reel jets, one covering jet, four breathing apparatus, thermal imaging cameras, one short extension ladder, positive pressure ventilation (fan) and lighting to extinguish the fire and assist them with the incident.”

The Stray Ferret called the pub this morning and a woman, who did not leave her name, said:

“It was an electrical fire. At the moment we are closed and need to assess the damage.

“It’s absolutely devastating — after everything that’s happened with covid and now this.”

The pub, run by Brian and Elaine Rey, made headlines in 2011 when Princes William and Harry were among a group of 16 that visited for a friend’s wedding. Kate Middleton was also present.

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Boroughbridge Lions looking for space to open community fridge

Boroughbridge Lions are on the hunt for a space in the centre of the town to open a community fridge, which would provide food to anyone in the local area.

The community group will work alongside Boroughbridge Community Care, a charity that offers help to those in need, to set up the space which would allow everyone to share surplus food, including donations from local food businesses, producers, households and gardens.

The organisations will be working with Hubbub which already helps to run 200 community fridges across the UK.

Food, such as dairy products, bread, tinned food and dry food destined for landfill would be donated by local shops or businesses and given to anyone in the community.

Lions member Sue Johnson said the space didn’t need to be huge, just big enough for a fridge and some shelving and somewhere central for people to access.

Ms Johnson said:

“We are still waiting for someone to come forward and offer us a space.

“Boroughbridge Community Care already hand out food parcels to six families locally. But we thought for people that aren’t aware of Boroughbridge Community Care, or who are struggling one week, then we would be there.”

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The plan is to start by opening the fridge one day a week and then, depending on how much food is donated and how large the demand is, open more days.

The space would be run by Lions and Boroughbridge Community Care staff.

Ms Johnson has asked anyone who may be able to offer a space or get involved in the project to email bbrlions@hotmail.com.

Boroughbridge roadworks causing ‘horrendous’ delays for drivers

Boroughbridge residents have expressed frustration at queues caused by temporary traffic lights on Bridge Street.

Queues on either side of the bridge have been growing in recent weeks due to the lights, which are near the development of six luxury apartments at the former HSBC building.

Three-way temporary lights have led to queues in both directions.

Locals have described the queues coming over the bridge, in the town centre and on Mill Lane as “horrendous”.

One resident, Neil Macdonald, who lives within walking distance told the Stray Ferret:

“This is the second time they have been there and they cause huge queues back to the roundabout and Horsefair.”

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The roadworks are not visible on North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map, which provides details of the nature of work and how long it is expected to last.

Remember, you can keep up-to-date on any morning traffic delays via our live blogs with  updates very 30 minutes from 6.30am to 9am. 

Boroughbridge streets flooded as storms hit Harrogate district

Streets in Boroughbridge have been left under water this evening as flash floods hit the Harrogate district.

After a balmy day, the forecast storms arrived by late afternoon.

Loud thunderclaps were heard in Harrogate but it was Boroughbridge that felt the full brunt of the weather.

Springfield Drive (pictured) and Springfield Grove were both left treacherous.

Boroughbridge flood

Springfield Drive

Local resident Mandy Lambert, who took the photo above, said the state of the drains was a long running source of concern among residents.

“It’s ridiculous how flooded we get.

“The council won’t do anything unless it goes into the residents’ houses.”

A yellow weather warning remains in place in the district for thunderstorms tonight until 11pm.

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Boroughbridge sunflower field opens in memory of BBC radio presenter Dom Busby

A business near Boroughbridge has planted a 15-acre field with sunflowers to try and raise £40,000 in memory of their friend and BBC radio presenter, Dom Busby, who died this year.

Mr Busby, who worked for BBC Sport and BBC Radio 5 Live, died in June four weeks after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The owners of The Log Shed, near Boroughbridge, had been planning a fundraiser with Mr Busby shortly before he passed away.

Rachel Sowray, who was friends with Mr Busby and is also one of the managers of Log Shed, said he would have wanted them to continue to raise as much money as possible.

Ms Sowray said:

“We wanted to do something for charities after such a difficult year for them. Dom was heavily involved and was going to be front of house on it all. Now we are doing it in memory of him.

“The field looks amazing, I really can’t wait for more people to see it.”

Visitors can walk around the field and pick their own flowers. The entry fee is £6 per person and 50% of funds raised will go to the two charities nominated by Mr Busby’s mum: Macmillan Cancer Support and Saint Michael’s Hospice.

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The flowers are expected to be in full bloom by the end of the week. The field will then be open for the public to come and walk round for three to four weeks.

For more information on when the field is open, visit this Facebook page.

Ripon paedophile jailed a second time

A registered sex offender from Ripon has been jailed for possessing videos showing girls as young as six being raped.

Andrew Burt, a former maintenance worker at Newby Hall, was on a strict court order which banned him from possessing any internet-enabled device without informing police, York Crown Court heard.

But when his monitoring officers turned up at his home in Skelton-on-Ure, which is between Ripon and Boroughbridge, they found two new devices which he hadn’t disclosed to police.

Police seized the devices, one of which was an LG mobile phone on which they found five video clips featuring the rape of young girls.

Burt was charged with possessing indecent images of children and two breaches of a sexual-harm prevention order which had been imposed in November 2017 for inciting an under-age ‘girl’ to engage in sexual activity.  He appeared for sentence on Thursday after admitting all three charges.

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Prosecutor Ms Hajba-Ward said Burt was a registered sex offender and still subject to the 10-year order when police called at his home earlier this month.

They found two unregistered devices including the mobile and a tablet of which police had not been notified.

The videos found on the phone were rated Category A – the worst kind of such material depicting the rape of pre-pubescent children.

Burt told police he had downloaded the images at a guest house “while drinking a lot of Strongbow (cider)”.

Caught by a vigilante

In 2017, Burt was jailed for 20 months after being caught by an online vigilante posing as a 14-year-old girl.

The adult decoy told police she had been chatting to a man on the internet who had used a false name and said he worked at Newby Hall.

Burt had sent her naked pictures of himself and a video of himself performing a lewd act.

He was ultimately identified by photos which showed that he was indeed a maintenance worker on the country estate.

The sexual-harm prevention order was imposed to prevent Burt cruising chatrooms and refusing a polygraph test.

Richard Reed, for Burt, said his client accepted he had a sexual interest in children and wanted help for his problem.

Judge Sean Morris jailed Burt for 32 months, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Mr Morris made a new sexual-harm prevention order for life. Burt will remain on the sex-offenders’ register, also for an indefinite period.

Plans to convert former Lower Dunsforth pub into flats

Plans have been submitted to convert a former pub and restaurant in Lower Dunsforth into three flats.

Stonefield Developments has applied to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the building, which was most recently a restaurant called The Hideaway Kitchen. Before that it was a pub called The Dunsforth.

The village is four miles from Boroughbridge.

The restaurant closed last year. Planning documents cite a “lack of customer trade and consequent viability issues” as the reason.

The documents add it was recently re-marketed as a restaurant but received no interest.

The upper floor of the building already has three existing flats, so if approved the building would have six in total.

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Two other nearby village pubs have had applications to convert them into housing over the past year.

In March 2021, Harrogate Borough Council approved plans to turn the former Green Tree pub in Little Ouseburn into housing.

The pub, which is on the main B6265 from Green Hammerton to Boroughbridge, closed in late 2019.

In the same month, the council also approved a plan to turn The Crown Inn pub in Great Ouseburn into a five-bedroom home.

Boroughbridge flood defences get £50,000 government boost

Boroughbridge’s flood defences are set to see a boost after the government offered £50,000 as part of a national investment into flood and coastal defences.

The investment will go towards the refurbishment of the Boroughbridge Pumping Station and flood defences. However, construction is not set to start until 2025.

The government has launched a Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan in which £5.2 billion is being invested over the next six years to protect homes and business across England.

The plans for Boroughbridge is one of 1,000 schemes to benefit.

Boroughbridge has been a local hotspot for floods for years with new housing estates and local businesses fighting floods in recent months.

Boroughbridge business owner Malcolm Angus, owner of Canal Garage said:

“Flooding is a real problem here and the answer is to slow the water down. It’s coming down from the Dales too fast and the rivers down here then fill up. It’s a catch 22 because if you manage to slow it in one area it’ll only end up somewhere else.

“It used to be more infrequent but now its four to five times a year.”

This year alone the fund will invest an extra £40 million compared with last year for schemes in Yorkshire and the Humber.

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Following the investment announcement, environment secretary George Eustice said:

“We are standing by communities and will bolster defences against flooding across England with many thousands more properties better protected by 2027.

“It’s important we take action right across the system. Our comprehensive plan will achieve this by tightening planning procedures, helping more people access insurance and making homes more resilient to the effects of flooding.”