A woman in Starbeck says she is “absolutely devastated” after a serious fire at her home tonight.

The owner of the house, who did not wish to be named, told the Stray Ferret the fire started in her son’s bedroom while she was downstairs celebrating her birthday.

She said she didn’t know how it started but she was “absolutely devastated”.

The house had only recently been redecorated.

Read more:

• Homes evacuated in Starbeck due to fire
• ‘Clean your chimneys’, urges fire service after two fires near Ripon yesterday

Neville Scott, red watch manager at Harrogate fire station, said:

“It had the potential to be a very serious incident and spread to other properties because it was a terraced house.

“But the firefighters were able to prevent that.”

Homes have been evacuated in Starbeck as firefighters battle a blaze that broke out this evening.

Two people are being treated for smoke inhalation but there are no reports of any further injuries at this time.

The fire, in Avenue Grove, was reported to North Yorkshire Police at about 8.20pm tonight.

The area has been cordoned off.

A police statement said:

“Members of the public are advised to avoid the area while emergency services deal with the incident.”

Read more:

• Fire crews save Labrador from Nidd Gorge ravine
• Firefighters rescue Parka-wearing climber from Almscliffe Crag

Residents on Mayfield Grove in Harrogate will meet police, councillors and politicians next week to discuss concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour.

North Yorkshire Police and Harrogate Borough Council issued a closure order for a house on the street this week after a man died.

The two organisations said they had carried a joint investigation following concerns about activity at a multi-occupancy address.

Read more:

• Police name Harrogate murder victim and charge suspect
• Cannabis farm ‘under the noses’ of Ripon residents

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, who is expected to attend Tuesday’s meeting, said:

“These are incredibly difficult and deep-seated issues.

“Many of those involved have long-standing homelessness, mental health and addiction problems and both the government and the council have dedicated a lot of cash and resource to these issues.”

Harrogate neighbourhood policing inspector Nicola Colbourne said:

“We’re continuing to work closely with residents, Harrogate Borough Council’s community safety partnership, elected representatives and others to ensure any concerns of Harrogate residents are listened to and the community remains a very safe place to live and work.”

A council spokesman said it was a private meeting.

Restoration of the Birk Crag Centre for Girlguiding on the edge of Harrogate has been halted due to a lack of funds.

Girlguiding North Yorkshire West began rebuilding the centre in 2018 thanks to grants and crowdfunding.

The group raised £1.1 million for the exterior of the building, which was completed last year.

The Birk Crag Centre for Girlguiding in Harrogate.

Now, county commissioner for Girlguiding North Yorkshire West, Jean Tennant, hopes to raise a further £400,000 to complete the interior.

The guides have applied for more grants but many grantmakers have diverted funds to organisations affected by covid.

Girlguiding fundraising activity has also been affected by covid. Jean said:

“Covid has hit charity work hard, we can’t do bake sales or active fundraising.

“Most grants are given to covid relief charities, which is more than understandable but we do need more money to finish this project.”

The new centre will include a residential area for girl guides and community groups, including cyclists, church goers and orienteering groups.

The building will also provide an activity arena with a capacity of 120 people and a large commercial kitchen.

Read more:

• District girlguides launch fundraiser to save residential centre
• Stump Cross increases fundraising target to £65,000

The guides will be able to meet at temporary centres from March 29 but there is no date for the opening of the restored Birk Crag Centre until funds are found to fit out the interior.

Jean said Girlguiding North Yorkshire West was grateful for the funding it has received from organisations, such as the Bramall Foundation, the Rotary Club of Harrogate and everyone who had helped to fundraise.

Crowdfunding on its JustGiving page continues.

The North Yorkshire coroner’s office is appealing for help to locate the next of kin of 53-year-old Craig Fryer from Harrogate.

Mr Fryer died at his home in Woodfield Road, Bilton on March 15 and officers have been unable to trace his next of kin.

It is believed he has two daughters, one in Australia and one in the south of England. However, it is unknown exactly where.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today:

“If you are Craig’s daughter or have information that could help find them, please contact our coroner’s office via email to coroner@northyorkshire.police.uk.”

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Fryer’s death.

Read more:

• Harrogate man died from drugs, not head injury, inquest told
• Police close house in Harrogate after man dies

The owners of three Harrogate bars have teamed up to call on Harrogate Borough Council to approve their request to put tables and chairs on the Stray.

Outdoor dining will restart under the government’s roadmap on April 12 but three Harrogate bars are still unsure if they can use much of their space outside.

Harrogate Borough Council approved the use of tables and chairs on Stray land last summer but is yet to decide whether to give the bars the green light this time around.

Simon Colgan, who runs the Blues Bar and The Empress with his wife Sharon Colgan, told the Stray Ferret:

“It makes a massive difference for our capacity, when we have the tables on the Stray it more than doubles for both of our bars

“We will still open if we can just have the six tables on the pavement. We will fight it because we have got customers who are desperate to come back.

“Without a doubt I would say this is critical for our business. It really is important, especially after another of three months of lockdown.”

David Dresser, who owns Fashion House Bistro, also told the Stray Ferret:

“It would be disappointing for us if we were not able to have outdoor dining back on the Stray land.

“That is on the basis that if we have some bad weather days then those days are right offs. This would help us on good days to make sure that business is stable.

“So it would affect our turnover but if we got those tables and chairs on the grass it would give us a boost.”

Read more:

• 34 jobs at risk as Bettys closes York cafe
• Ripley Show cancelled due to covid

Both Simon Colgan and David Dresser approached Harrogate Borough Council with their request when Boris Johnson set out his roadmap last month.

However, a spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council told the Stray Ferret:

“We are currently awaiting feedback from the Duchy on the proposed approach, prior to a consultation starting.”

The Duchy of Lancaster owns the Stray and Harrogate Borough Council are its custodians.

We asked the council about its timeline for a consultation but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

Professional cricketer Phoebe Graham has agreed to become Harrogate Cricket Club’s ambassador for women and girls’ cricket.

Graham, who is contracted to Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Northern Diamonds, will provide regular girls coaching.

She will also act as a consultant to the club on how to expand its number of female players and grow the game in the Harrogate district.

Graham, who is a fast bowler and qualified coach, will advise the club on formulating a schools’ programme to encourage more girls to take up cricket and help it work with other clubs in the area to promote women and girls’ cricket.

The club currently includes about 25 girls, whose season is due to start next month.

For the first time ever, Harrogate’s girls’ section has entered a team in to the Nidderdale under-13 boys league this summer.

Graham, who also runs a gender equality consultancy, will now build on work done by head junior coach Andy Hawkswell, along with Nat Crossland and Tim Robinson to further develop the girls’ section.

Club chairman Steve Clark said:

“This new partnership is an incredibly exciting one. We hope it will be a long-lasting relationship that ensures that women and girls’ cricket continues to grow and thrive in Harrogate.”

Graham said:

“Providing women and girls with opportunities to play sport is something that I am extremely passionate about and I love Harrogate’s commitment and long-term ambitions to grow the female section.”

Read more:

• Fire, bankruptcy and coronavirus: Harrogate Cricket Club adapts to survive
• Cricket club to benefit from major Bilton Hall refurbishment

Plans to open a new micropub called the Office Ale House in Starbeck have fallen through.

IT consultant Kevin Jones previously said he hoped to get the venue at 67d High Street up and running by May, subject to planning permission.

He applied for a change of use planning permission on September 22, but nearly six months later Harrogate Borough Council was still to consider the application.

Mr Jones said the landlord of the building has now decided to offer the building to a different tenant.

He said he was “seriously upset about it” and criticised the council’s planning department:

“Starbeck has lost what would have been a community asset.”

“Now all the money I have spent on it has been wasted.”

Read more:

• New Starbeck bar granted alcohol licence
• Starbeck set to get new micropub

A council spokesperson blamed the covid pandemic for the delay:

“We would normally endeavour to determine an application for a change of use within eight weeks. This can sometimes take longer should revisions to a scheme be needed and/or further information required.

“But, like all local authorities, the planning application process was disrupted considerably last year due to the on-going global pandemic and the numerous lockdown and social distancing measures introduced.

“Once remote meeting were introduced, along with government measures for carrying out the planning process safely, we have successfully reinstated this process. However, as a result of the aforementioned issues, some application decisions are taking longer to determine.”

A different building on Starbeck High Street will be turned into a pub called the Waiting Room, after Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee granted it a licence to sell alcohol last month.

The premises was previously occupied by Greenalls and Your Factory Bed Shop.

A Harrogate dentist has dropped plans to stop providing NHS services after patients raised concerns.

Chatsworth House Dental Clinic proposed in August transferring NHS patients to Starbeck Dental Centre.

The provider never made a formal approach to the NHS and has now confirmed it has no intention to stop the service.

The owners of Chatsworth House Dental Clinic said in a statement to the Stray Ferret:

“At the time, the practice was merely seeking opinion from our patient base about the possible merging of NHS services with another practice in the locality.

“We decided not to pursue this any further after feedback from our patients and the logistics of such a proposal.

“We have no intention of ceasing NHS services and the practice is fully committed to providing NHS services for the long-term future at its current location.”

The decision surprised the management team at Starbeck Dental Centre, which was set to take on the NHS contract.

Read more:

• ‘Shocking’ waits for NHS dentists in Harrogate district
• Harrogate thalidomide campaigner backs covid vaccine

Jonathan Campbell, group operations manager at Starbeck Dental Centre, said:

“I can confirm that the transfer to Starbeck Dental Centre is not happening following the unexpected withdrawal from the owners of Chatsworth House Dental Clinic.

“At Target Dental Group our aim is to provide the best possible care to the patients to both NHS and private patients of Harrogate and surrounding areas.”

Investigation into NHS dentist provision in Harrogate district

It comes after an investigation by the Stray Ferret found that just two NHS dentists in the Harrogate district are currently accepting patients and they have a waiting list of at least two-and-a-half years.

We looked into the availability of free NHS services at the 18 district dental practices listed on the NHS website.

Many have not updated their information for years. But they all fall into one of three categories: they have a long waiting list; they have such a long waiting list that they are not taking on new patients; or they no longer hold an NHS contract.

Of the 18 practices, only MyDentist in Knaresborough and AW Jones Dental Practice in Boroughbridge are taking patients — with waiting times of two-and-a-half years and three years respectively.

Harrogate Borough Council spent more than £350,000 on bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless people from the start of the first lockdown until the end of last year.

The local authority worked with some businesses in the district to put people up. But it also sent some homeless people as far as Darlington, which is more than an hour’s drive from Harrogate.

People were also sent to Leeds and York.

The Stray Ferret understands it was necessary to use accommodation elsewhere because some empty hotels in the district were reluctant to accept homeless people.

From March to December, the council spent £353,000 on B&Bs and more than £1,400 on taxis for homeless people, according to council documents.

Read more:

• Harrogate jumpers raise £10,000 for homeless people
• Harrogate homeless units still not used this winter

The national government covered the cost through a grant as part of its “Everyone In” scheme to get people off the streets during the pandemic.

A spokeswoman from Harrogate Borough Council said:

“The coronavirus pandemic has placed extra demand on our homelessness service, which accounts for the additional spend in recent months.

“We received a government grant to provide accommodation for rough sleepers or those at risk of rough sleeping in the Harrogate district.

“We may sometimes use accommodation in another council area, but at all times the receiving local authority is notified and the person continues to be supported by our homelessness team.”

The Local Government Association published a report in November, which found that Everyone In saved saves by encouraging councils to take rapid action.

Liz Hancock, chair of the Harrogate Homeless Project, echoed those findings and told the Stray Ferret:

“The Everyone In scheme was a relief. We recognise how hard Harrogate Borough Council has worked and continues to work on this.

“This was emergency action but the council is now looking at long-term solutions to keep people off the streets.”