Two cat owners from the Harrogate district have spoken of their heartbreak after their pets ate food which has been linked to hundreds of deaths across the UK.

Both cats Albert and Tina had been eating Sainsburys Hypoallergenic Recipe before they became seriously ill earlier this month.

The Food Standards Agency has recalled a number of cat foods by Applaws, Sainsburys, Ava from Pets at Home and Wilko.

No definitive evidence exists at this stage confirming a link between the cat food and a potentially fatal bone marrow condition called feline pancytopenia but recalls have been issued voluntarily as a precaution while an investigation takes place.

While a vet confirmed that Tina died from pancytopenia, which has been connected with the recalled food, Albert’s death is only a suspected case of the same disease.

The Royal Veterinary College is aware of 506 cats with the disease in the UK. Of these, 62.5% have died. Usually there is only one case in the UK in a year.

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Vivienne Cameron, who is from Pateley Bridge and was the owner of Albert, told the Stray Ferret:

“All I want to do is raise awareness. I had no idea when I bought the cat food that it could lead to Albert’s death.

“He was a really greedy, mummy’s boy. Albert would eat anything. He would probably try to eat you if you sat in his bowl.

“Albert had been eating that food for a few weeks. In the space of a week he stopped eating food, became quite lethargic and then died.

“I miss him. People cannot imagine how much I miss him.”

Liz Chambers, who is from Helperby, near Boroughbridge, and was the owner of Tina, said:

“When we took Tina to the vets they told us it was either cancer or pancytopenia. They said the best of the two would be cancer.

“We tried everything we could but she was not in a good way by the end. It was all very distressing.

“She was always there for us, whether it was by my side putting the clothes out or comforting my eldest when she was upset. It just feels empty in the house now.”

Residents and staff at Boroughbridge Manor care home enjoyed watching last night’s Euro 2020 final, despite the heartbreaking result for England fans.

Throughout the tournament, the home has been decked out with flags and residents have been enjoying all the action.

The residents would remember the last time England reached a major final in 1966 and everyone at the home appreciated seeing Gareth Southgate’s men make their way through the tournament, especially after a tough year with covid restrictions.

Staff put on football-inspired snacks for the residents whilst they watched the games together.

Krzysztof Bialczyk, general manager, said:

“We have loved watching the Euros, we have watched pretty much all the matches – lots of our residents are footie fans.  It has been fantastic to be able to cheer on all the home sides and especially England, we did amazingly well to get to the final.”

Thomas, a resident at Boroughbridge Manor, said:

“Although we didn’t win tonight, it has been a brilliant few weeks of football.  The lads did us proud and made it all the way to the final, they played their hearts out.  At least we haven’t got long to wait until the World Cup next year!”

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The A1 southbound between junction 47 and 48, near Boroughbridge, is closed following a serious accident.

North Yorkshire Police has said emergency services are at the scene of the incident that happened at 7.48am this morning.

The driver and passengers are believed to have serious, but not life threatening injuries. The accident involved a single vehicle.

The closure is in place on the southbound carriageway between junction 47, with exits to Knaresborough and the A59 and junction 48, for Boroughbridge.

Delays of over 30 minutes are being reported.

The police is asking for any witness to call 101 and press 1 and pass any information of the force control room.

They have also urged drivers to avoid the area.

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Developers wanting to build 260 homes in Boroughbridge have had their plans thrown out by councillors concerned that the houses would be “crammed in” together.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes already has outline approval as part of the first phase of a larger 450-home development at Stump Cross but was denied final permission at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee yesterday (3 June).

The concerns from councillors were that too many terraced properties had been concentrated in a small area, and that residents would also not get enough garden or storage space.

Cllr Nigel Simms described the plans as “like a sink development from Lancashire, not something that we should be having in North Yorkshire”.

He said:

“We have got terraced properties with no access to the back for their own cycle storage, and we have got huge car parks in the middle of residential developments.

“All the layout is wrong to me and alien to what I would expect to see on the outskirts of Boroughbridge.”

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Cllr Andrew Paraskos added:

“It looks like they have crammed as many houses in as possible.”

There were also concerns that no cycling and walking links to the town centre would mean busier roads, as well as worries over drainage and flooding at the site which was described as “like a river” during wet weather.

Site layout for the proposed 260 homes in Boroughbridge.

Cllr John Goss, a member of Boroughbridge Town Council, told the committee the site was prone to becoming waterlogged and that the town suffers with raw sewage spilling out of drains because of added pressure from the hundreds of new homes already built in the area.

He said:

“The current infrastructure for the sewerage and drainage is inadequate.

“When we have heavy rainfall the town suffers with sewage coming through street manholes, across the school playing field and into our local car park.”

He added: 

“The site at Stump Cross floods very frequently. Many years ago we used to have the Aldborough Show in that field and it got so waterlogged that we had to move it elsewhere.

“We have absorbed around 1,000 new houses in and around the town of Boroughbridge and we would now like to call a halt to further development.”

Although flooding officials at North Yorkshire County Council did not previously object to the plans, they did conclude the site was at “high risk” of surface water flooding.

Yorkshire Water also did not raise any concerns at outline stage but did lodge an objection against the latest plans. It said an underground pipe that runs diagonally through the site would “seriously jeopardise” its ability to maintain the public water supply.

When yesterday’s decision of refusal was made, the council had yet to receive further representations from the water company but an agent for the developers did defend the plans.

Liam Tate, planning manager at Barratt and David Wilson Homes, said development of the site would in fact improve drainage and that Yorkshire Water had confirmed to them that there was enough capacity in the system to cope with added pressure.

He said: 

“As part of this scheme, drainage, in particular surface water drainage, will be improved as at the moment there is no infrastructure in place to accommodate surface water other than limited field drains.”

Asking councillors to vote for approval, he added: 

“The site is allocated by the council for residential development. It is fully compliant with national and local policy, and will deliver much-needed affordable housing.”

Councillors voted seven votes for and one against to reject the application on the grounds of design and layout.

The developers now have the options to appeal the decision or bring forward revised plans.

Councillors on the committee later rejected a proposal for up to 200 homes in Pannal Ash, which council officers had recommended for approval.

The Little Bird Artisan Market will be returning to Boroughbridge again this weekend for the second time since lockdown restrictions eased.

Tomorrow the market will sell food and drinks, arts and crafts and homemade gifts. Local live musicians will also be performing throughout the day.

The market of 35 stalls will be held at the Langthorpe Farm Shop with an outside bar. The event is pet-friendly and people are welcome to bring dogs.

The market is scheduled to take place from 10am until 3pm on the first Saturday of each month in Boroughbridge, with other dates at venues across North Yorkshire including Harrogate.

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The last market took place over the first May bank holiday weekend and was a success among locals.

The event was curated by Boroughbridge local Jackie Crozier, who said:

“I genuinely believe in shopping small, shopping within local communities and supporting small businesses to thrive. What better way to do this than supporting a local community outdoor market, with skilled vendors selling high quality goods.”

Project co-ordinator Izzy has advertised for local small businesses to get in touch on their Facebook page regarding taking a stall.

The ease in travel restrictions does not go far enough to reboot the industry, a local travel agent has claimed.

Last Monday, eager holidaymakers were finally allowed to get on a plane after the ban on non-essential overseas travel was loosened.

But for Peter Cookson, group managing director at Spear Travels, Boroughbridge, the green list was “a bit of a joke”.

Current rules have placed 12 countries including Portugal, Iceland and Gibraltar on the green list, meaning travellers are required to take covid tests before they leave and before they return to the UK and again within two days of their arrival, but do not need to quarantine.

A further 173 countries are on the amber list, which has tighter restrictions. Travellers to these destinations must take an additional covid test on day eight after they arrive back and isolate at home for for 10 days.

Spear Travels, in Boroughbridge, has not seen a boom in 2021 bookings

For the travel industry to truly get back on its feet, Mr Cookson said the restrictions have to change as the expense of covid testing is discouraging people booking trips.

He has confidence that “pent-up demand” exists but has only received a “handful” of bookings for Portugal and none for amber-list countries.

Mr Cookson expects this low level of interest to continue while strict measures to prevent the spread of covid are in place.  and said people are already re-booking their holidays for next year.

He said

“I think the main thing putting people off are the covid tests, for a family of four it could be around £500. The green list is a bit of a joke, people don’t want to spend that extra money.

“Until we get other countries like Spain, Italy and Greece on the green list, bookings will be slow. We’ve only had a handful of holidays to Portugal.”

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Looking forward he is hopeful for a return to pre-covid levels but said this might not be until 2023.

For now he said his team is focusing on re-booking people’s holidays for later dates and crossing their fingers for changes to the rules.

Spear Travels runs 12 shops across the country, which have reduced their opening hours to keep staff on furlough while bookings remain low.

Have you booked a holiday to an amber-listed country? Tell us about your holiday plans via contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

There is a flood warning in place near Boroughbridge after several days of heavy rainfall and drivers are being urged to avoid low-lying roads.

The River Ure at Westwick Lock is expected to peak at around 1.5 metres this afternoon.

As a result, the flood information service has said flooding is “expected/possible” today in the Roecliffe Caravan park area.

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A spokesperson for the flood information service said:

“The flood warning for the River Ure at Roecliffe Caravan Park has been issued due to rising river levels following recent rainfall.

“The river level at Westwick Lock is currently 1.4m and is forecast to rise steadily, peaking at approximately 1.5m this afternoon.

“Consequently, flooding is expected/possible today in the Roecliffe Caravan Park area. Our incident response staff are closely monitoring the forecast.

“Please plan driving routes to avoid low-lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.”

It is currently the only place in the UK where a more serious flood warning is in place.

There are also six flood alerts in place, which means flooding is possible rather than expected.

Two of the alerts are in place at the Lower River Ure near Ripon and the Lower Dunsforth Access.

Aldborough and Boroughbridge Agricultural Show has become the latest major event in the Harrogate district to fall victim to covid this year.

This year’s show, which would have been the 107th, was due to take place on July 25 at Newby Hall.

The event includes animal judging as well as craft tents and stallholders selling food and drink.

This is the second year the show has been cancelled due to covid.

The show committee announced the decision on Facebook. It said:

“It is with an exceptionally heavy heart that the committee have decided to cancel the show this year.

“This has not been a decision that has been taken lightly and all considerations and options have been considered.

“We are still discussing the possibility of a virtual event or perhaps something later in the year, however at this time I can confirm that our full show will not be going ahead on July 25.

“We will confirm next year’s date shortly and we really do hope that that show will be our best one yet.”

The event follows the likes of Ripley Show and Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally in being cancelled for a second year running.

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Four crews from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the A1 (M) near Boroughbridge this morning after a tanker caught fire.

Crews from Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Tadcaster rushed to the incident at 01.32am this morning.

The brakes and tyres of the tanker, which was carrying sugar, had set on fire. The crews were able to detach the trailer from the cab, which luckily didn’t set alight.

A section of the A1 (M) near junction 47 and 48 was closed for 90 minutes.

In its incident summary, the fire service said:

“Crews used two breathing apparatus sets and two hose reel jets.”

Highways England said it was called at the same time to patrol the traffic.

All lanes were reopened by 2.57am. The last of the fire crews left the scene at 2.45am.

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