The Harrogate Bus Company has apologised after a number of bus journeys in the Harrogate area were cancelled this morning.
Passengers in the Jennyfields and Bilton areas faced delays and cancellations, especially around the morning rush hour.
The number 2, Harrogate to Bilton, and number 3, Harrogate to Jennyfield, buses were among those affected.
Sylvia Young got in touch to say she and many others were “sick of the bus service”. Ms Young sent this photo of this morning’s cancellations.
She added:
“It’s not now and again it is nearly every day the buses people need for work are cancelled. Two hours of no buses in or out of Jennyfield. It’s a disgrace.”
The cancellations attracted numerous social media comments, with some people claiming the problems were due to problems with the company’s new electric buses, including charging the batteries.
The Stray Ferret put these claims to the Harrogate Bus Company, which is owned by French firm Transdev.
We also asked if services would continue to be affected.
A spokesperson for the company said:
“We are aware of a small number of journeys to Jennyfield and Bilton which were unable to run this morning due to a vehicle-related issue.
“We apologise to any customers affected and remind our customers that they can track their buses in real time using the free Transdev Go app.”
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Harrogate council has issued no dog fouling fines in 12 months
Harrogate Borough Council has revealed it hasn’t issued any fines in the last 12 months for failing to clean up dog mess.
The council’s dog warden service urged people to report dog mess last week. In a post on Facebook, it said there had been “an increase in dog fouling across the whole district”, especially in Harlow Hill.
It added the Otley Road area around Beckwith Road, Nursery Lane and the ginnel from the Shepherd’s Dog Pub to the allotments was “particularly bad”.
The council can issue fixed penalty notices of up to £80 for dog fouling. However, it struggles to catch anyone in the act.
This week it told the Stray Ferret it had not issued any fines for dog fouling in the last year or the previous year either.
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A council spokesperson said:
Jennyfields residents urged to be patient over gas leak payments“Dealing with the issue of dog fouling is very resource intensive and requires us having people in the right place at the right time to catch someone committing an offence within the 505 square miles of the Harrogate district.
“We are very fortunate that the vast majority of people who live here or come to visit take considerable pride in the appearance of the area. Because of this they do the right thing and pick up after their dog and dispose of it responsibly.
“Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in in particular areas and would encourage residents witnessing someone not picking up after their dog to report it to us so we can focus our patrols to try and prevent it from happening.”
Jennyfields residents still waiting for £60 gas compensation payments have been told they will be issued automatically.
About 3,500 homes in Jennyfields were without gas for 48 hours after a major gas leak on Ripon Road in October.
Northern Gas Networks, which distributes gas to homes and businesses in Yorkshire, the North East and northern Cumbria, automatically issues £60 compensation payments through customers’ gas suppliers for loss of supply for more than 24 hours.
But six weeks after the leak, which the company said affected more people than any other incident it had dealt with in the last 18 months, some people have yet to be paid.
Eileen Brown, customer experience director for Northern Gas Networks, told the Stray Ferret some payments had been delayed because gas suppliers had gone out of business.
Ms Brown said Northern Gas Networks would process the payments when it was notified of the new suppliers. She added if it made the payments before then they could be delayed even longer because they would get tied up in lengthy administration processes.
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She pledged all 3,500 homes would be fully compensated automatically and asked residents not to call Northern Gas Networks requesting payments.
“Payments will be coming to them. They don’t have to do anything for it.”
Asked how long people could expect to wait, Ms Brown said it was likely to be weeks rather than months but added the timings were “beyond our control” because of the need to wait until customers were transferred to new suppliers.
Some customers on the priority services register are also entitled to £48 compensation payments for the provision of alternative heating. Again, Ms Brown pledged they would be made.
‘1 in 43 years occurrence’
The leak occurred when sub-contractors damaged a pipe during deep excavation work about three metres below the surface of Ripon Road, near the Hydro.
Northern Gas Networks converted the Styan Community Centre in Jennyfields into an emergency hub to respond to the incident.
A total of 355 Northern Gas Networks engineers and volunteers helped that weekend, aided by 30 voluntary organisations. The company gave away 800 electric heaters, “slightly fewer” electric hobs, 50 oil filled radiators and 1,500 food vouchers worth £10 each.
The company’s response was widely praised by people in the area.
Ms Brown said the loss of gas supply happened on average once every 43 years and most customers would not experience this again in their lifetimes.
Asked how much the incident had cost Northern Gas Networks, she said she was unable to say but added:
“We do the right thing for customers. The cost is the cost. It’s about being there for customers.”