Police search for missing woman who may be in Harrogate

Police have appealed for information about a missing woman from Wetherby who they believe may be in Harrogate.

Judith Holliday, 72, was reported missing this morning.

West Yorkshire Police described her as 5ft 2ins tall and slim. She is believed to be wearing floral trousers, a blue-t-shirt and black shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quote log 309.

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Harrogate district unemployment falls by 10%

The number of people on out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district fell by over 350 in May, a decrease of 10% on the previous month.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 3,185 people were claiming out-of-work benefits as of May 13 — down from 3,545 in April.

This accounts for 3.4% of the local population, which is below the UK average of 6%.

From May 17, indoor hospitality venues such as bars and restaurants were able to reopen with social distancing measures in place.

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said:

“Any drop in the number of people unemployed has to be welcomed. However, I do fear that when furlough comes to an end the figure could well creep up again.”

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Financial support for those out of work includes Universal Credit and Job Seekers’ Allowance.

Figures in the district have remained stable throughout the pandemic, which suggests the government furlough scheme has protected many staff from redundancy.

Harrogate’s top crime-writing prize down to shortlist

Readers have whittled the potential winners of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award down to six authors.

Organised by Harrogate International Festivals, the award is widely regarded as the most prestigious in crime fiction.

The shortlist is designed to celebrate the best of crime writing and transports readers around the world from Calcutta to California.

Author Chris Whitaker hopes to claim the trophy on his first ever nomination with We Begin at The End, which is a story of crime, punishment, love and redemption in California.

Sunday Times bestselling author Rosamund Lupton’s Three Hours tells the story of gunmen opening fire on a school in Somerset and explores white supremacy and radicalisation.

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Elly Griffiths is hoping that her seventh prize nomination, The Lantern Men, lead to the title. The story sees Ruth Galloway return to the fens to hunt down a serial killer.

Trevor Wood’s meteoric rise continues with his novel The Man on the Street, which provides insight into the story of a homeless Falklands veteran with severe PTSD turned criminal investigator.

Scottish-Bengali author Abir Mukherjee’s Death in the East is a mesmerising portrait of India, Assam and East End London, which could be a case of third nomination lucky.

The final title on this year’s shortlist is Northern Irish author Brian McGilloway’s The Last Crossing, which looks at The Troubles from the perspective of a view of former operatives.

People can vote for the winner here.

Simon Theakston, executive director of T&R Theakston, said:

“This is it: the crème de la crème of crime. This shortlist really does showcase the breadth and depth of the genre.

“It’s going to be a fiercely fought prize this year so make sure you vote for your favourite.”

The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel from Theakston Old Peculier.

The full shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 is:

Harrogate’s hospitality sector reacts with disappointment to lockdown delay

Pubs, bars, and hotels in Harrogate have reacted with disappointment tonight to the prime minister’s announcement that the end of all lockdown restrictions will be delayed.

Alison Griffiths, landlady of the Prince of Wales pub in Starbeck, said she understood the “safety first” approach, especially as 10 of the pub’s regulars have lost their lives to covid.

But with a busy month of Euro 2020 fixtures ahead, she expects many customers will now prefer to watch the matches at home rather than in the stilted, socially distanced confines of the pub.

She added:

“People would rather be in their houses where they can stand up and shout”.

Andy Burrows, co-owner of District Bar on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate, said he understood the rationale behind the delay but said he’d grown weary of the restrictions.

“It just drags on, but it is what it is.

“Everyone has to be safe. We won’t complain and we’ll do what’s best”.

Mr Burrows said social distancing guidelines and masks dampened the bar experience and made it hard for staff to understand what customers were saying.

“But we’ve been lucky to have an outside area where people feel more comfortable.”

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Wayne Topley, managing director of Cedar Court Hotel, said the hotel faced a busy summer ahead with banquets, weddings and charity events booked in.

He said he awaited further details, adding:

“I had hoped the extension would not have been required, but if it is I presume it is based on clear data.

“Through the road map and the government communication process over the last 16 months, what we now understand is that the devil is in the detail and the detail won’t be clear until the government shares the announcement and the within a matter of hours the detailed guidance around the extension will be clear.”

Andy Barnsdale, general manager of the Doubletree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa, said it now planned to reopen in a month’s time, but he wondered if its hopes would be “dashed yet again”.

He said today’s announcement was “particularly disappointing for the hospitality, conference and events industries”, adding:

“However, we have to be mindful of the medical advice they are receiving, and nobody wishes the number of covid cases to rise.

“We are now looking ahead to fully reopening in a month’s time, but will our hopes be dashed yet again? I sincerely hope not.”

Harrogate car wash owner found guilty of modern slavery

A Harrogate car wash owner has today been found guilty of modern slavery crimes.

Defrim Paci, a 42-year-old married father-of-four, was one of two men convicted at Carlisle Crown Court.

Mr Paci is sole director of Harrogate Hand Carwash on Sykes Grove but the crimes were committed against workers at a Carlisle car wash.

After a six-week trial, Paci, of Windmill Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire and Sitar Ali, of Adelaide Street, Carlisle, were unanimously convicted of conspiracy to require others to perform forced or compulsory labour at the Carlisle car wash Shiny, and conspiracy to facilitate travel with a view to exploitation.

Jurors deliberated for almost 27 hours across six days.

The court heard graphic evidence about terrible conditions in which employees at Shiny were forced to carry out daily duties.

Several told of working long hours for little pay and being denied breaks when the car wash was busy during 2016 and 2017, and not being given the freedom to take time off.

One described being left “very tired”, hungry and with just £20 in his first pay packet as he worked nine long days in a row. He was also one of several workers who complained that no protective clothing was provided, and said water had “eaten away at my feet” as it seeped through his trainers.

Skin burned

One worker recalled buying cheap gloves from Tesco to protect his hands from cleaning chemicals which, some employees complained, burned the skin on their face and body.

Workers also reported rat and insect infestation sightings in their “very dirty” Carlisle multi-occupancy accommodation, having paid for transportation from their native Romania to north Cumbria.

Travel costs and deposits were deducted from weekly pay and wage slips, where issued, understated working hours and overstated the amount of money earned.

Employees were taken to a charity safe centre on May 10, 2017, when health and safety officers called at Shiny, issuing several improvement notices as police arrested suspects.

One worker later told police:

“They treated me the same like they would do with a slave.”

Paci ‘operated at the top’

Paci was said to have “operated at the top” of the criminal enterprise, buying land and setting up a business, which was managed by Sitar Ali.

Ali was also convicted of possessing criminal property after £16,000 was found in a BMW after his arrest.

Martin Reid, prosecuting, told jurors:

“It is the prosecution case that the circumstances created by the defendants led to the freedom of these workers effectively being overridden.”

Paci and Ali will be sentenced on July 30.

Denied bail

Barristers representing the two men made pleas for bail in the meantime, so they could put “affairs in order” ahead of sentencing, which one suggested was a “significant inevitability”.

But Judge Nicholas Barker remanded both men into custody, saying.

“I fully accept that these matters have been hanging over you for many, many years now and you have been on bail for an extended period of time.

“However, the fact of your convictions changes the circumstances. In my judgement there is a flight risk that you have. Both of you have access to connections overseas.”

A third man, 37-year-old Jetmir Paci, was acquitted by jurors of two conspiracy allegations.

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Sculpture trail heads to Harrogate’s RHS Harlow Carr

A new sculpture trail inspired by the seasons is heading to RHS Harlow Carr next month.

The Four Seasons will open in the Harrogate gardens on July 7 and run until summer 2022, so there’s opportunity to experience the trail at all times of year.

Each sculpture is a four and a half metre tall fibreglass head inspired by Renaissance paintings by Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Artist and filmmaker Philip Haas’s heads depict spring, summer, autumn and winter in human form. They are adorned with seasonal fruit and vegetables, flowers and crops.

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As well as the trail, RHS Harlow Carr will also hold a series of floristry workshops. The first event, where people can create bouquets and wreaths, will be on July 1.

Paul Cook, RHS Garden Harlow Carr curator, said:

“The locations of the Four Seasons have been carefully chosen. Summer is surrounded by meadow flowers, whilst Winter echoes the mature trees around the sculpture.

“Autumn will be a talking point as the fruit and vegetables in our Kitchen Garden mature and Spring will see new foliage emerge.

“With the exhibition taking place at Harlow Carr over multiple seasons, another transformation will occur to alter and enrich the viewer’s perspective – the passage of time, the play of light and weather on the sculptures.”

Harrogate’s Luke Richardson flies to America for World’s Strongest Man

Harrogate strongman sensation Luke Richardson is set to compete in the World’s Strongest Man in America this week.

Luke, who turns 24 on Sunday, is one of 25 men in Sacramento vying for the right to be called the strongest on the planet.

If he wins he will be the youngest man ever to hold the title.

This year’s event is expected to be broadcast to 500 million people in 70 countries. It will be shown on Channel 5 in the UK over Christmas and on CBS Sports Network in the United States next month.

Britain has a great pedigree in the event, with former winners including Geoff Capes, Jamie Reeves and Gary Taylor, but endured a 24-year wait until Eddie Hall triumphed in 2017.

Luke Richardson

Luke Richardson

Luke, who is 6ft 3 and weighs 330 lbs, took the sport by storm last year when he won Europe’s Strongest Man in Knaresborough and finished ninth in the World’s Strongest Man in his first full season of strongman.

This year he has been drawn in a group with Canadian JF Caron, American Robert Oberst, Iceland’s Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted and Russian Mikhail Shivlyakov.

The heats, which begin on Wednesday and last three days, include events such as the train pull, deadlift and pickaxe hold.

The two-day final will culminate, as ever, with the Atlas stones.

Luke went to Starbeck Community Primary School and Harrogate High School and now trains at Absolute Fitness in Boroughbridge and LR Strength Shed in Wetherby, which he and training partner Richard Parish opened.

Harrogate district’s race to vaccinate as coronavirus rates rise

The Harrogate district’s covid infection rate has returned to levels not seen since March.

The news comes ahead of tonight’s expected government announcement that the planned June 21 unlocking will be delayed by four weeks.

The Delta variant first identified in India was confirmed to have arrived in North Yorkshire last month and Harrogate’s weekly infection rate has since more than tripled.

However, there were no covid patients in Harrogate District Hospital as of last Wednesday and it has been two months since it recorded a death.

Public Health England figures show the latest infection rate for the Harrogate district is 52 cases per 100,000 people – up from 16 this time last month.

The latest figure is also above the North Yorkshire average of 41, but below the England average of 70.

Meanwhile, more than 111,000 people in the district have now received their first covid jab and over 92,000 their second.

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Under the roadmap out of lockdown, England was due to move to stage four on June 21 when events and venues, including nightclubs, would be allowed to operate without capacity limits, and the cap on guests at weddings would also be lifted.

But many scientists have called for a delay to enable more people to be vaccinated and allow more time for work on whether vaccines are breaking or weakening the link between infections and hospitalisations.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said with hopes of lockdown restrictions lifting now fading, “the race is on” to vaccinate as many people as possible as the spread of infections gathers pace.

“The light is still there but the increase in Delta variant transmissions is worrying. The trend is going upwards, hospitalisations are increasing and it also seems to be spreading into younger people who until recently seemed to be relatively immune.

“The race is on to vaccinate all of us as soon as possible. This is not over yet and we just have to be careful still.”

Great Yorkshire Show ‘monitoring situation’ as lockdown announcement looms

The organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show have said they are “monitoring the national situation” ahead of tonight’s government announcement on lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to give a news conference at 6pm tonight.

All social distancing measures are due to be lifted on June 21 but Mr Johnson is expected to say current restrictions will remain in place for four more weeks until July 19.

The Great Yorkshire Show is scheduled to take place from July 13 to 16 so the announcement could impact on its plans.

However, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the agricultural charity that organises the event, has already included various social distancing measures into this year’s planning.

They include holding the show over four days, rather than three, capping daily visitor numbers to 25,000, reducing the grandstand capacity to 30% and adapting the show to use as much outdoor space as possible.

This has raised hopes the event will be able to proceed as planned but the situation should become clearer after the ramifications of tonight’s announcement are known.

In a statement today, the society said:

“The Great Yorkshire Show is monitoring the national situation and we are awaiting details from tonight’s announcement.

“We continue to work closely with North Yorkshire County Council public health and Harrogate Borough Council.”

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Live: Harrogate traffic and travel

Good morning, it’s Leah with you this morning giving you updates every 15 minutes on the road and rail links near you.

Our live blog, brought to you by The HACS Group, will give you up-to-date information on traffic hotspots or where it may be building and the temporary lights in place. We also keep an eye on any bus or train delays.

If it is safe, please get in touch on our social media channels or call me on 01423 276197 if you experience any delays.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me this morning, Suzannah will be back with you tomorrow from 6.30am with updates every 15 minutes. Have a lovely day!

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.15am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

8am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.15am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

6.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses