Fire crews were called out to tackle a house fire in North Rigton this morning.

Firefighters were called to the property on Church Hill just before 7am. Two crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough tackled the blaze.

Tony Peel, station manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said crews found the ground floor of the house on fire.

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He said:

“Two crews were mobilised from Harrogate and Knaresborough.

“On arrival they found the ground floor of a semi-detached property well alight. Everybody was out of the property at the time.

“Crews deployed into the property have extinguished the fire.”

An investigation into the fire is ongoing.

Firefighters rescued a climber who got stuck up Almscliffe Crag on Saturday.

Crews from Knaresborough attended the incident on Crag Lane, North Rigton in the afternoon.

They used a ladder to help the Parka-wearing climber back to safety.

Almscliffe Crag, which is made of Millstone Grit, is a popular landmark for climbers and walkers.

A spokesperson for Knaresborough Fire Station said the person was not injured but had “a little bit of hurt pride”.

One comment on the fire station’s Facebook post accused the unnamed climber of “irresponsible behaviour” during a lockdown.

North Yorkshire Police has frequently warned people not to travel for exercise during lockdown.

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But Paul Metheringham, Knaresborough watch station manager for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, told the Stray Ferret:

“The young man was local to the area so he was not breaking any coronavirus restrictions.

“He thought he would climb up with his friend and realised that he had got himself stuck at about five metres up.

“Luckily no injuries, just a little bit of hurt pride and hopefully a lesson learned.”

Four Harrogate district fire crews battled a blaze in an outbuilding in North Rigton this morning.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service firefighters were at the scene for three hours after being summoned at 6.26am.

Two crews from Harrogate, one from Knaresborough, one from Ripon fought the fire with the aid of a Boroughbridge water bowser, which is a large water tank on wheels.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service told the Stray Ferret at 12.40pm that a fire investigation officer remained at the scene to identify the cause of the blaze.

The 10 metre x five metre outbuilding is next to a property on High Moor Road, driving towards Beckwithshaw.

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Residents in North Rigton say they will continue to fight council plans to build more homes on their street.

The battle started in 2006 when Harrogate Borough Council planned to demolish all of the garages in Brackenwell Lane for more homes.

Harvey Alexander, chairman of the North Righton Community Association, said they managed to get the council to partially back down then.

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They argued that the space in front of the garages is the only turning point and the grass there is also where kids play.

Years later Harvey says the council has broken its promise to leave the area alone. He fears that, if the development went ahead, it would also create a “nightmare parking” situation.

“You can see how crowded the street is at 6.30pm and it gets worse later on. It’s going to be a parking nightmare. The council are going against the promise they made back in 2006, it is frustrating. This would cause chaos, there are plenty of other places to build homes. We don’t have the amenities.”

Six garages could be demolished for development.

The council has proposed to demolish the six-car garage to erect two dwellings on Brackenwell Lane, losing ten car parking spaces in total.

Currently, there is no date for the council to make its decision on the development. The Stray Ferret approached Harrogate Borough Council for a comment but did not receive a reply.