Diners in the Harrogate district who took part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme got a discount of more than £1.9 million in August.

New figures out today from HM Treasury also revealed that people in the Harrogate and Knaresborough and Skipton and Ripon constituencies ate 314,000 meals in the scheme.

The scheme was designed to help the struggling hospitality sector get back on its feet. The Stray Ferret reported that many cafes and restaurants saw a big spike in interest last month.

Some restaurants were fully booked and were forced to turn some diners away who were trying to take advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out discount.

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• Discount scheme extended in district restaurants
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In Harrogate and Knaresborough 153 restaurants signed up compared with 205 restaurants in Skipton and Ripon.

Some restaurants across the Harrogate district have seen such a boost that they have extended the discount without any government backing to fund it.

Lydia Hewitt-Craft, supervisor at So! Bar and eats Harrogate, said:

“It’s been massively helpful and it’s a relief because it was hard at the start when everyone was worried about coming out but this has been great for us.”

Nertil Xhallo, manager at Sarando on Station Bridge, said:

“It has been really busy, we’ve had a lot of bookings. Most people have returned which is good. The offer has been helpful for the business.”

Sara Ferguson, acting chair of Harrogate BID and owner of two Harrogate restaurants, said:

“I think it’s been a massive help, everyone I have spoken to says it’s been worth doing. I think with the uncertainty going forward its given all those places a boost.”

North Yorkshire Police is urging for vigilance following an increase in burglaries on new home development sites across the district.

During the past 24 hours, two incidents have been reported. One at a new site one in Langthorpe, near Boroughbridge, and the second in Penny Pot Gardens in Harrogate.

Boilers are the main item to be stolen. The perpetrators are cutting the gas and water pipes before removing the boilers, meaning some of the homes are left flooded.

Other targeted locations in the district include Knaresborough and Ripon. Furnishings valued at £70,000 were stolen from two show houses at a site in Knaresborough. In Ripon, a dumper truck was stolen from a site in the nearby village of Markington.

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The police are asking local residents to keep an eye out and report any suspicious activity.

It has also asked if any CCTV overlooking any of the targeted sites is checked for activity such as large vans driving around the sites.

Information can be reported using the 101 number, dial 1 and pass the information onto the Force Control Room.

The fate of the General Tarleton is unclear as it shows no sign of reopening after being closed for five months. 

Award-winning chef John Topham and his wife Claire have shared full ownership of the hotel and eatery in Ferrensby since 2005, according to information on the Companies House website.

Over the past 15 years the couple have built a reputation for serving quality food.  

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In 2016, the couple also gained a stake in the Alice Hawthorn, a country inn in Nun Monkton.  

The Alice Hawthorn is managed by the Tophams and in 2017 it was named the Yorkshire Life Dining Pub of the Year. 

The Alice Hawthorn has reopened since the coronavirus lockdown but the General Tarleton remains closed.

The Stray Ferret contacted the Alice Hawthorn yesterday to inquire about the future of the business but it declined to comment.  

A new music shop is set to open in one of the large empty properties in Knaresborough in a move that will help to reinvigorate the town after lockdown.

The Music Bank, which is due to open on October 3, will be based in the old Barclays bank on the high street. It will sell instruments and offer music tuition.

Its owner, David Lombardi, wanted a place for customers to see and touch the instruments as well as a base to run an online store.

Mr Lombardi said:

“After carrying out extensive market research in the area we found that there are very few music stores available in the Knaresborough, Harrogate area and saw this as an opportunity to fill that void.

“Whilst the world is certainly a changed place given current and recent events, our business was one of a few that prospered throughout the lockdown with more people taking to instruments than ever before.

“Musical instruments will always have a place on our high streets. People like to make sure it feels right, looks right and sounds right before they make a purchase.”

Well-known brands will be sold at the shop, encouraging customers to come in and browse.

The Music Bank already has a tuition centre in Rotherham, South Yorkshire teaching over 70 students each week.

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• A new gym opens in Knaresborough despite closures of other centres in the district. 
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Roadworks are due to begin today at junction 47 of the A1(M) near Knaresborough, with the £7.7m project set to continue until autumn 2021.

Three of the four slip roads onto and off the roundabout will be widened to increase capacity and traffic lights will be installed to improve the traffic flow. North Yorkshire County Council hopes this will reduce the number of vehicles queuing on the A1 slip road.

Traffic lights will also be added to the T-junction between the A168 and the A59, a short distance from Junction 47 on the York side.

To the west of Junction 47, between the A1 and the Flaxby roundabout, a lane will be added for traffic travelling east, so there will be two lanes in each direction between those two roundabouts.

County Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for roads at NYCC said the council will work with the contractor to minimise disruption for motorists.

He said:

“At busy times, congestion is an issue at this junction, particularly for traffic coming off the southbound carriageway of the A1. The upgrades we will put in place will address this congestion, improve road safety and support development in the towns.”

Read more:

• Coronavirus backlog sees roadworks double in Harrogate district

• Lockdown blamed for influx of Harrogate roadworks

There are several major housing developments planned for Knaresborough, including 600 homes at Manse Farm, which Cllr Mackenzie said the roadworks will support.

He added:

“We are looking ahead and helping to support sustainable growth by considering future housing developments, particularly along the A59 corridor between Knaresborough and York.

“Inevitably there will be inconvenience for drivers at certain times during the project, but we will give as much notice as possible and ask people to be patient.”

The project is being funded with £2.47m from the government’s Local Growth Fund along with contributions from NYCC, Highways England and developer Forward Investment LLP.

A Yorkshire glamping pod manufacturer has expanded into Knaresborough with a new warehouse space of 4,000 square foot.

Anthropods & Co Ltd’s new premises – its largest yet – is on Hambleton Grove industrial estate in Knaresborough. The company’s previous warehouse was in Killinghall, but it needed more space to keep up with its orders.

Over lockdown, the company had to suspend production for four months. Its return to production comes as people are favouring staycations and working from home and the company hopes its range of products will suit the surge in demand.

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Doug Adamson, executive chairman of Anthropods & Co Ltd, said:

“We are manufacturing from the plot now – we moved in a couple of weeks ago and we are now set up. We have expanded the workforce too. The reason to move was because we required more space to up production capacity and grow our workforce. We managed to just get the site – we wanted to stay in the Harrogate district.

“We had to shutdown for four months but luckily we didn’t lose any orders. Now the staycation market is growing so rapidly, it may be beneficial for us, but there is normally quite a long period of time between enquiries and final production as people are making a big investment with us.”

The company hopes to increase production within the new estate, where it took the last remaining unit of a total of seven units.

Models like these pods are installed in Europe.

Knaresborough town centre will continue to provide free parking until the end of the year, with the time limit doubled to one hour.

North Yorkshire County Councill will bring in the new rules on September 1 for Knaresborough Market Place, as well as Northallerton High Street.

The county council made the decision after it saw a petition from Northallerton BID which called for a review into the parking policies.

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County Councillor David Blades, member for Romanby and Broomfield, said:

“This decision goes a long way to show our support for retailers on the High Street and residents who requested an extension to free parking to allow for more time to do their shopping.”

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Highways, added:

“The parking regime in Northallerton High Street has been a great success in encouraging a turnover of spaces and making it easier for drivers to find a parking space, resulting in less congestion. We must remember that parking charges in these towns are extremely low compared to other places.”

Knaresborough Christmas Market will still go ahead this December after organisers found ways to ensure visitor safety.

The two-day event, scheduled for December 5 and 6, is set to proceed after organisers used the town’s weekly market as a guide.

Last week, the Stray Ferret reported that the Harrogate Christmas Market is set to be called off. Organisers of the Knaresborough market said it will be “different”, with the number of stalls having to be reduced and others spread to other areas of the town in an attempt to avoid overcrowding and large queues.

Hazel Haas, chair of the Knaresborough Christmas Market committee, said:

“We are fortunate to be able to go ahead this year. It will be different but we are working on the premise that people will be glad something is going ahead and support it. Limiting the number of stalls means we are running it at a loss but we are prepared to do that because Knaresborough needs it.

“Provided the restrictions remain the same it will go ahead – it is all very dependent on the government advice. We are asking people to be prepared that it will be different, it can’t be the same, but we will do our best to give a true Christmas experience.”

Stall numbers will have to be reduced and visitors will need to follow the advice of organisers. Credit: Charlotte Gale Photography on behalf of Knaresborough Christmas Market.

Meanwhile the annual firework display in Knaresborough has had to be cancelled. Its popularity has raised concerns over crowding and the difficulty of managing it safely.

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• Harrogate Christmas Market set to be called off.
• Events cancelled at the Yorkshire showground are thought to have cost the local economy over £70 million. 

Plans have been submitted to convert the Coach House at the back of the former Natwest Bank on Knaresborough high street into a two-bedroom home with two car parking spaces.

Knaresborough-based CFK developments is behind the proposal which will see the building put back into full-time use after almost a hundred years.

The main building is called Claro Chambers and has been vacant since the bank moved out in October 2017.

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The Coach House is part of CFK Developments’ wider plans for the site. In 2019, Harrogate Borough Council granted the company planning permission to build three 3-bedroom terraced homes in the car park of the former bank.

Earlier this year, CFK also submitted plans to change the bottom floor of the bank to a cafe, restaurant or office. The plans are yet to be decided.

A teacher from Knaresborough says she needs more support to help those seeking asylum settle into the Harrogate district.

Anne Morley has spent her free time in recent months taking supplies like shoes and mobile phones to asylum seekers in Leeds.

There are currently around 130 asylum seekers living in a hotel in Leeds. The coronavirus pandemic has meant that they are not able to go into detention centres.

Ms Morley has won the support of some people in Knaresborough but she needs more help. Asylum seekers are not entitled to any benefits before they have gone through a legal process and gained refugee status.

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She says it is a life in limbo for the asylum seekers after a treacherous journey from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Sudan. Many are not able to tell their families that they have arrived safely in the UK because they have no working phones.

That is something that Ms Morley and charity Care4Calais has tried to change. Ms Morley told the Stray Ferret that asylum seekers want to come to the UK and contribute:

“Some people have this view that asylum seekers want to come here and claim benefits but it is simply untrue. They all want to work and build better lives for themselves. I know people who have gone onto work in Harrogate’s hospital or as carers or even as mechanics.”

Her plea for people to donate to the Care4Calais emergency appeal comes as the body of 16-year-old Sudanese boy attempting to cross the English Channel was found earlier today.