A number of Harlow Hill residents have questioned why North Yorkshire Police took 18 hours to offer any reassurance to families after alleged gunshot last weekend.

Residents have also criticised police claims that they responded immediately, saying armed officers took about 45 minutes to arrive and the police helicopter was deployed later still.

Police say they were called to reports of “loud bangs” in the Pinewoods at 5.01pm on Friday.

Armed officers attended and were stood down shortly after 7pm. But another 16 hours passed until police issued a five-paragraph media statement at 11.04am the following day.

An armed officer at the Pinewoods entrance on Friday.

The Stray Ferret has received calls from several residents saying children had been playing in the Pinewoods at the time of the noises and people were frightened. They were therefore disappointed not to be kept informed by police.

One person said:

“There was no reassurance whatsoever. We are a community very close to Harrogate police station and I would have thought some form of panic prevention and reassurance would have been issued.”

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Residents praised the police for sending armed officers and a police helicopter but said the following day’s media statement, which said ‘officers immediately attended and carried out an extensive search in the area’, was misleading.

They said two plain clothes officers turned up after about 10 minutes but the length of time it took armed officers and the helicopter to arrive, although understandable given that those involved had to travel, allowed plenty of time for anyone responsible to leave the Pinewoods.

‘Proportionate response’

Andy Colbourne, Chief Inspector for Harrogate and Craven, told the Stray Ferret the force control room assessed 999 calls to ensure a proportionate response and he was satisfied the right action was taken in this instance. He said:

“We provided a response that was suitable to the information we had at the time.”

Chief Inspector Colbourne added he did not know exactly when the armed officers and police helicopter arrived on the scene.

Police at the scene.

He said a male in the area was searched on the night but released because “nothing was found on him that would link him in any way to the incident”.

Chief Inspector Colbourne added he would look into the delay in issuing any update to the community, adding:

“If we are getting calls from the public about something that could be significant I would expect they will get an update quickly.”