North Yorkshire Police has urged dog owners to be more responsible after an increase in attacks on livestock.

The police issued the appeal after noticing an upturn in incidents in the Harrogate area over the last week.

More people are visiting the countryside as lockdown restrictions are eased, which has led to more dog attacks on sheep.

Inspector Matt Hagan, head of North Yorkshire’s rural taskforce, said:

“Owners need to stick to the countryside code and keep their dogs under control even if that means they have to stay on a lead. You are responsible for their behaviour so keep it under control. If your dog is involved in an incident please report it as a lot of the time the owner may see no-one and just head off but they do have a duty to report it.

“If you’re out and about and see anything please report it too because it’s difficult following these kinds of reports up, but if you report it at the time and it’s more likely we can do something.”

The police are asking dog owners to take responsibility for their dogs when out walking them in the countryside.

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One of the incidents reported to the police this month involved a husky which managed to run through a fence and chase sheep. Police officers were called to an incident on July 12 near Thruscross Reservoir, near Harrogate, by a farmer who reported a dog had attacked a lamb on his land.

The farmer accepted an apology from the dog’s owner and the police issued a community resolution. North Yorkshire’s rural police force are keen to highlight the financial and emotional impact these attacks can have on their livelihoods.

Six weeks of roadworks began this morning on the Leeds Road roundabout, leaving the area gridlocked throughout the day.

The works will be in place until August 28 to allow Northern Powergrid to carry out cable overlay works.

Two of the roundabout’s six exits on Langcliffe Avenue and Park Drive have been closed and traffic lights are in place on the others. This left many commuters stuck in traffic or having to take long diversions.

The roadworks are set to stay along Leeds Road for six weeks.

Similar works are taking place along Skipton Road over a 12-week period. Those works are in order for Northern Gas Networks to replace the old metal pipes running along the road. Richard White, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:

“This investment will ensure residents and businesses in Harrogate continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply for decades to come.

“We appreciate that no one likes roadworks, but we will be doing everything possible to complete this work as quickly as possible, while maintaining safe working practices.”

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The works come following several quieter months on the roads as many people worked from home. Following the Prime Minister’s announcements suggesting that people can return to work, the next six weeks are likely to involve much longer commutes.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire County Council for a comment on the works, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

The government dealt an indoor play centre in Harrogate a devastating blow in its coronavirus update today.

Kidzplay Harrogate has kept a keen eye on the lockdown easing throughout hoping for the green light.

Owner Lisa Mee has been putting on the pressure and even attended a demonstration in London yesterday alongside others in the industry.

However, this morning Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that while most industries can now open indoor play centres and night clubs cannot.

Lisa Mee told The Stray Ferret that it was “devastating” to hear that she cannot reopen and questioned the logic behind the decision.

“I think, based on the conversations I’ve had with others in the industry, it’s the end of indoor play. If we were in Scotland, Wales or Ireland we would be able to open. I don’t understand the logic.”

The Stray Ferret has approached government press offices and Andrew Jones MP to ask about extra support for Kidzplay Harrogate but had no reply.

Kidzplay Harrogate will have to close without a government u-turn.

The owner of a Harrogate indoor play centre has demanded the government gives her business the green light to reopen.

Lisa Mee runs Kidzplay Harrogate, which has been closed since the start of the coronavirus lockdown.

She has made every effort to make her play centre safe for children to return but indoor play centres are one of a few industries in England still closed.

Today is the 120 day point since the closure. To mark the occasion Lisa travelled down to Westminster to demonstrate and to Downing Street to hand in a petition.

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Nearly 20,000 people have signed the “Rescue Indoor Play” petition which claims that the government has overlooked children in its decisions.

Standing just outside Downing Street Lisa Mee told The Stray Ferret:

“Children between one and five years old are low risk when it comes to coronavirus. But when we keep them in isolation they are high risk for social and emotional development. A one-year-old came to the centre recently. They have spent half of their life with their parents and nobody else and they really struggled meeting other people, I fear for their future.”

Today is the 120 day point since the closure.

Lisa Mee also fears for the future of her business. With no concrete date of when she can reopen Kidzplay she could potentially have to pay some big bills going forward.

She managed to get a government loan but with the furlough scheme coming to an end she faces a £30,000 bill for her 30 staff. Without further help, Lisa may need to make some tough decisions.

Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) is preparing for an increase of calls for help from people after coronavirus.

Requests to the charity for food bank and supermarket vouchers have already increased. It says help for practical jobs could also increase as people struggle financially.

From April to June it has supported over 500 families and individuals. Over lockdown it provided a variety of help including dropping off books and puzzles to those isolating and moving beds for covid patients returning from hospital.

The charity was initially “overwhelmed” at the beginning of the pandemic but it was able to recruit over 200 volunteers to help it as demand increased.

Lizzie Hughes, Project Development Worker, said that as lockdown eases people will still need their help:

“Whilst we are receiving fewer urgent requests for support and emergency food shopping now, we are still carrying out on average around 120 tasks every week for people in Harrogate and Ripon. A number of people are struggling financially and we’re seeing a lot more people needing to access the food banks or asking us to apply for supermarket vouchers for them.

“Physical and mental health may prevent some local residents from being able to fully participate in community life for some time to come. We also anticipate an increase in demand for practical help with jobs that have built up during lockdown and need arising from economic hardship exacerbated by the virus.”

Gill, a HELP volunteer, took her pony Maple for a socially distant walk round the houses of some of HELP’s isolating clients to cheer them up.

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The organisation offers a support network for those in need of help across Harrogate and Ripon. Over lockdown HELP has been working with the most vulnerable to assist them in any way they need.

Lizzie added:

“From April to June, we supported an additional 501 families and individuals, carried out 822 shopping trips and 112 people received befriending phone calls. We appreciate that doing someone’s shopping isn’t going to be the answer to all their problems so we have been making welfare calls to all our clients offering them additional support.”

The latest figures for people claiming out-of-work benefits show a slight drop in unemployment levels in the Harrogate district.

In June there were 3,740 people claiming out-of-work benefits, down slightly from 3,990 in May.

The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate up to June 11. They reveal that 3.9% of the district’s population were claiming out-of-work benefits, a decrease from 4.5% in May.

Of those, 2,135 were men and 1,605 were women.

Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.3% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers’ Allowance and Universal Credit. The ONS said that the labour market has stabilised but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.

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Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said:

“As the pandemic took hold, the labour market weakened markedly, but that rate of decline slowed into June, though this is before recent reports of job losses.”

In his summer statement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that from August to January, any company that hires an apprentice aged 16 to 24 will receive £2,000 from the government, while those that hire apprentices over 25 will be paid £1,500.

The announcement was welcomed by the principle of Harrogate College, who told The Stray Ferret that it will boost jobs in the district.

The seven-month-long Whinney Lane road closure “could kill” the Squinting Cat pub, says its manager.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Andy Harrison said he is “absolutely mortified” that the main road to the pub from Harrogate will be closed for seven months – just as it attempts to recover from lockdown.

North Yorkshire County Council announced that a section of Whinney Lane will be closed to traffic from Monday, July 27 to February 28 2021, due to the construction of two site access points for the Castle Hill Farm housing development as well as a new roundabout.

The closure will end around 200m before the Squinting Cat. Mr Harrison said it will have major implications as most people driving to the pub use Whinney Lane rather than the longer route through Burn Bridge.

He added the road closure will be a major blow after reopening following lockdown on July 6 and questioned whether NYCC could offer the pub financial compensation.

He said:

“We’ve struggled. Trade is hard anyway and with the road closure I don’t know if we can sustain it”.

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Local residents told the Stray Ferret that the closure of Whinney Lane will be the start of years of disruption due to the different housing developments planned for the area.

One resident, who didn’t wish to be named, said she has seen construction vehicles blocking the lane for residents who use it to exercise. She said “it’s like a takeover”.

Another resident, David Siddans, said he is expecting further closures when more homes are built on the adjacent field of Whinney Lane.

Nigel Smith, head of highway operations at NYCC told the Stray Ferret that they hope works can be completed ahead of schedule and that there will be a temporary footpath installed for pedestrians.

However, he said the authority would not be able to provide any compensation to the Squinting Cat.

He said:

“We understand the inconvenience the closure will cause however these are essential and unavoidable works associated with the development.

“A signed diversion will be in place and pedestrian access has been agreed with the landowner, providing a temporary footpath to houses and businesses.

“We understand the concerns that businesses have regarding trade during any road closure. However, there is no statutory provision for compensation by the Highway Authority for businesses affected by essential roadworks.

“If a business is concerned about a road closure please get in touch with their local highways office, but regretfully we are unable to make any offer of compensation due to the temporary disruption of traffic flow in this area. That said, local access to residences and The Squinting Cat will be maintained where possible.”

Commuters travelling between Harrogate and Leeds will be able to get a new smart ticket for discounted travel from today.

It is a step towards a London-style contactless payment system and comes as part of Transport for the North’s (TFN) drive to update public transport.

The new season tickets are available on Northern and LNER services. They give passengers 10 unlimited travel days for the price of nine valid for six months.

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TFN plans to roll the scheme out on further routes. A Transport Focus survey found that over a third expect to work from home with limited travel to the work place.

TFN hopes the new tickets with a flexible season pass will work well for those workers.

Jeremy Acklam, TFN director of integrated and smart travel, said:

“Now more than ever, due to the impact of coronavirus on our travel habits, passengers need safer, better value and more convenient ways to pay for public transport. Flexi seasons will provide this for thousands of passengers.”

This is part of the £150 million integrated and smart travel programme. The next stage proposes to deliver more contactless payment technology across the North.

“Parking remains free for staff, visitors and patients. We already had in place the exemptions listed below for specific patient groups. We didn’t for staff on night shifts but then we put in place free parking for all staff (before the national directive came out) so that was a resolution.”

This news will be warmly welcomed by staff and visitors to the hospital.

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A Harrogate beautician has told the Stray Ferret that she is seriously worried for the industry as people are being driven to go “underground” to be able to make a living.

Beauty salons now have the green light to reopen but therapists will not be able to perform many of the treatments that are their “bread and butter”, she said.

Treatments which involve work directly in front of the face are not allowed under government guidance.

Michelle Mohindra, owner of Coco Tan

Michelle Mohindra, owner of Coco Tan, which is a group of three salons in Harrogate, told us that she has some major concerns:

“We have been given green light to go ahead and then told we can’t do certain treatments. People are so desperate to do treatments and to earn money again that we are actually driving our reputations and our industry underground and I am very concerned that we are going to damage our industry.

“People feel they have no choice but to carry out treatments behind their front door and they shouldn’t be doing that, but I understand we have been forced into a very difficult place.”

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Michelle went on to say that despite a demand for other treatments, they have lost customers.

“We have had lots of clients that wanted to book in, but because we can’t do any work to the face we have lost the appointment. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to us that we can wax from the neck down without any issue at all but we can’t touch anyone’s face. This means no eyebrow waxing, no threading and no lashes, and people are desperate to have these done.”

With the cost of PPE rising, this creates another challenge for salons.

“There’s a lot of financial concern because of the cost of PPE. We used to purchase a box of face masks for £3.99 – the price of this just quadrupled overnight, so we have had to budget very, very carefully to staff the salons with the budget we have.”

It comes as questions are being asked by the beauty industry about why barbers can offer a beard trim but a beautician can’t offer treatments such as eyebrow waxing.