Emergency services rescue ‘man in distress’ from scaffolding in Harrogate

Police and firefighters rescued a “man in distress” who climbed scaffolding in Harrogate last night.

A concerned eyewitness called the police when they saw the man make his way to the top of the three-storey building next to Harrogate Homeless Project on Bower Street.

Officers attended the incident at around 7pm and managed to convince him to make his way back to the ground after about an hour of negotiations.

The man, who has not been named, was then taken to Harrogate District Hospital for treatment and support.

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A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“North Yorkshire Police received a report of a man in distress who had climbed scaffolding on Bower Street in Harrogate just before 7pm yesterday.

“Officers attended and spoke to the man, who came back down at about 8pm. He was taken to hospital to receive the support and treatment he needs.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“Fire crews from Harrogate along with the aerial ladder platform attended an incident to assist police and paramedics with a male, who was left in their care.”

Police commissioner proposes £10 council tax hike

North Yorkshire’s police commissioner has proposed a £10 hike in the force’s share of council tax.

The proposal would see the rate increase to £281.06 from April this year.

Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner, is expected to agree the proposal at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel on February 7.

A report due before the meeting said the increase would help the force hit targets for officer recruitment and pay as set by government.

It said:

“This will provide sufficient funding to deliver the increased levels of police officers, as required by the government, the expected increase in pay, the unavoidable increase in National Insurance contributions whilst also meeting some significant increases in non-pay inflation.”

Meanwhile, Ms Metcalfe will also propose a 1.98% increase in the fire service council tax precept – which would see bills rise to £75.61.

Planned council tax hikes 2022/23

The service is currently running at a £1 million deficit and can only hike its share of the rate by 1.99%, under government rules.

The commissioner’s office also warned councillors at a meeting earlier this month that the service faces borrowing up to £33 million after ministers abolished its capital grant.

Ms Metcalfe described the funding settlement for the fire service as “very unfair” and pledged to lobby government for more support.

Council tax hikes

Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner have all proposed increasing their share of council tax this year.

It means taxpayers across the district will face a bill of nearly £2,100 this year.

Local precepts for parish and town councils, such as Ripon City Council, will also be included on bills.

Final decisions on council tax rates from all public authorities will be made in February.

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Three teens arrested after missiles thrown from Harrogate Theatre roof

Police have arrested three youths after reports that building materials were thrown off the roof of Harrogate Theatre.

The incident happened at around 4am this morning. A resident who lives nearby sent a video to the Stray Ferret of what appears to be broken tiles littering Cheltenham Parade.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue sent a crew from the Harrogate station to the scene. They managed to get the youths down from the six-storey building before leaving them with the police.

A £1 million refurbishment of the 120-year-old roof of the theatre is due to be completed in March. It is unclear whether this incident will affect the timescale.

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A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“Shortly before 4am Tuesday 25 January 2022, police were called to reports of young people on the roof of Harrogate Theatre on Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate.

“The group were believed to be throwing projectiles from the roof.

“Officers attended with colleagues from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and the young people were brought safely to the ground.

“Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with this incident.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“A crew from Harrogate were mobilised to assist police with searching a six-storey property following reports of youths on the roof possibly stealing roof materials.

“Crews set up the aerial ladder platform to be used as a lighting platform to assist with the search. The youths were left in the care of the police.”

‘God help us!’ — fears over need for £31m to fund North Yorks fire service

Concerns have been raised after it was revealed North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service could be forced to borrow up to £31 million to fund new equipment after the government abolished its grant.

Zoe Metcalfe, a Conservative who was elected North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in November, described the funding settlement for the fire service as “very unfair” and pledged to lobby government for more support.

The service is currently running a deficit of £1 million and will require capital funding to pay for vehicles, maintenance of property and fire kit.

At a meeting today of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel, the commissioner’s office set out provisional plans for increasing the precept paid by council tax payers to fund both police and fire services.

Michael Porter, director of finance at the commissioner’s office, told the meeting that the fire precept can only be increased by 1.99% — which would amount to £1.46 per week — because it is not one of the eight lowest charging services in the country.

He added that there will be no capital grant from government, leaving the service requiring £31.1 million to fund its projects over the next five years.

Mr Porter said:

“The problem with this, which we alluded to earlier, is that there is no capital grant from a fire perspective.

“Almost the entirety of that £31 million would need to be borrowed. Borrowing would need to be around about £25 to £26 million to be able to fund that type of level of investment.

“We will probably get to a point where we have to make some really difficult choices around whether or not we can continue to do something or even be able to do something of this nature.”

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Martin Walker, a co-opted member of the panel, said he was “horrified” by the financial situation the service was in.

He said:

“I have to say that I’m horrified, if that’s not too strong a word, about where the fire service is going to be.

“It’s in desperate need of capital injection and renewing stations, renewing fire engines and renewing all sorts of infrastructure.

“You’re talking about borrowing and having to borrow £30 million. I hesitate to say this, but god help us. 

“The fire service is fighting so hard to provide the service that the public need and yet you’re telling us as a panel that it’s going to get worse, then it will get worse and after that it will get worse.”

Ms Metcalfe sought to reassure the panel and said she was “lobbying government and MPs very hard” over funding for the fire service, which she described as unfair.

She said:

“I am questioning the rationale about how they have come to deciding where we are on that chart [precept level], it does seem very unfair.

“I’m fighting very hard for a fairer funding formula for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.”

Meanwhile, Mr Porter added that there was “strong support” from the public for the precept level to be increased higher than 1.99%.

The commissioner’s office will set its budget for the police and fire service in February.

Firefighters called to kitchen fire at Harrogate house

Firefighters attended reports of a kitchen fire at a house in Harrogate last night.

Crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough rushed to St Mary’s Walk in town at around 10pm.

On arrival, the firefighters discovered a small fire in a microwave, which was already out. There was heavy smoke in the kitchen as a result.

St Mary's Walk

St Mary’s Walk

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North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said crews removed the microwave from the building and cleared the smoke with a ventilation fan.

A spokesperson for the service said:

“Appliances from Harrogate and Knaresborough attended reports of a kitchen fire in a residential property.

“Crews removed the microwave from the building and cleared the smoke using a positive pressure ventilation fan. Advice was given to residents and on site staff.”

Woman dies in Harrogate house fire

A woman in her 50s was found dead this morning after firefighters were called to a fire at a house in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue sent crews from Harrogate and Knaresborough to reports of a fire on Craven Street, just off King’s Road, at 6.20am.

On arrival firefighters made their way into the property and found the woman. They took her out of the house to paramedics, who tried to save her life with CPR.

However, the ambulance crew pronounced her dead at the scene.

Firefighters then carried another search of the property but found no evidence of other people.

North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have launched a joint investigation to determine the cause of the blaze.

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A resident on the street, who didn’t want to be named, said:

“There was a lot going on here this morning with lots of police, ambulance and fire engines.

“From what we can tell there was a fire at the back of the house. But we didn’t see any flames or smoke.

“Someone was stretchered away and they were trying to resuscitate them.”

The fire happened on Craven Street.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said:

“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were deployed to carry out a search of the property. One casualty was located.

“They were brought out of the property and CPR was given. However, they were pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance crews.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police added:

“North Yorkshire Police was called Craven Street in Harrogate at around 6.20am on Friday, January 7 following a report of a house fire at the location.

“On arrival a woman in her 50s, the sole occupant of the property, had sadly been pronounced dead by ambulance crews.”

Person taken to hospital after house fire in Little Ouseburn

A person was taken to hospital after a house caught fire in Little Ouseburn in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters from Boroughbridge, Knaresborough and Acomb were called to the incident at 1.15am this morning.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says everyone was out of the house by the time the emergency services arrived.

The log adds:

“One occupier left with paramedics, treated on scene for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital via road ambulance.

“Crews extinguished the fire using hose reels. Incident will be revisited by crews for checks this morning.”

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Omicron: Harrogate district covid rate up by a quarter in three days

Harrogate’s Covid infection rate has jumped by more than 25% in just three days amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The weekly rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 476 – up sharply from 376.

This equates to around 110 new cases per day and comes as people are being urged to think carefully about social events this Christmas as a further rise in infections is expected.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the area was now facing a “race against time” to prepare for a similar surge in cases seen in other areas of the country.

“If we follow previous patterns, and what’s happening in London, it won’t be long before we are seeing high numbers of Omicron cases here in North Yorkshire.

“Even the most optimistic Government modelling is now projecting many more cases in January and February and we face the possibility of many more hospital admissions and sadly many more deaths.

“Living with Covid means responding quickly to deal with a new variant. We need to act now to buy time”.

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Mr Webb also said people should take a lateral flow test before mixing socially and that getting a booster vaccine remained the best line of defence.

The vaccination programme has been rapidly accelerated in recent weeks with firefighters now being drafted in to deliver doses at sites across North Yorkshire.

James Manning, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue group manager, said:

“This is an urgent situation and the time involved is substantial in getting these vaccines where they need to be.

“For this reason the key agencies have come together to provide the best possible service to people”.

In Harrogate, vaccines are being made available by appointments and walk-ins at several pharmacy sites as well as Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse.

Famous North Yorkshire pub ‘reduced to ashes’ in overnight blaze

A North Yorkshire pub famous for its food and setting in a historic thatched inn has been “reduced to ashes” in a fire which took hold overnight.

The owners of the Star Inn at Harome, which will be well-known to food lovers in the Harrogate district, called the fire service at around 10pm last night.

Firefighters battled the blaze overnight with nine fire engines on scene at its peak. As of 7am this morning, crews were still working to extinguish the fire.

In a dramatic video posted by the pub’s owners on social media just after 4am the thatched roof can be seen ablaze with smoke billowing out into the night sky. They said:

“It’s been a long night so far…I’m afraid we won’t be open for a while as we are reduced to ashes with The Star on fire and still burning, residents please call after 9 am.”

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https://twitter.com/TheStaratHarome/status/1463723386534862849

The Star Inn is famous for its food, having held a Michelin star for much of chef Andrew Pern’s tenure who has been at the pub for 25 years.

Fire crews from Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering along with the aerial ladder platform from Huntington have attended the fire.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said at 7am:

“At it’s peak the incident had nine appliances, one aerial ladder platform, one water bowser, one welfare unit and an incident command unit in attendance.

“Crews worked with main jets and hose reel jets to contain the fire and the aerial ladder platform was deployed to removed thatch from the roof.

“The incident is still ongoing and crews are still working to extinguish the fire.”

‘Bleak’ future for North Yorkshire fire service due to underfunding

North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service faces a bleak outlook due to chronic underfunding, systemic on-call staffing shortages, crumbling buildings and out of date vehicles, a meeting has heard,

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime panel was told the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the fire service, which serves about 824,000 people across the county, was working “exceptionally hard” to break even this year.

Chief financial officer Michael Porter told the meeting the service would be drawing on £638,000 of reserves to balance the books until April, but “next year is looking like it is going to be really challenging”.

Mr Porter said a £390,000 deficit had initially been forecast for 2022/23 from reserves to balance the 2022/23 budget, but that was likely to deepen significantly due to pay awards, soaring utility bills and increases in national insurance contributions.

The meeting heard unless restrictions on fire services increasing their council tax demands were eased by the government, the service would need to make more savings. Mr Porter said:

“There’s an awful lot of additional pressures that are lining up for the fire service for next year. Initial views on the settlement for next year are that it is probably not as generous as it has been for the police and the police have more scope to increase precept.”

The meeting heard members question why some £365,000 had been spent on “minor works” to fire service buildings, before hearing they were built as medium-term premises up to 70 years ago and constructed with interiors designed for a different time, when there were few female firefighters.

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Mr Porter said the service’s 30 buildings across the county and its fleet of vehicles had been significantly under-invested in for some time.

“There are a significant number of properties within the estate that are in dire need of replacement, as opposed to maintenance. The longer that we leave it or are unable to replace the buildings, the more we will have to spend patching them up.

“We have got an aged estate that doesn’t meet modern requirements and standards it is an inhibitor of what the organisation wants to do as it moves forward. We almost have to borrow every single penny we have to invest in the capital programme as it is. It is not a rosy picture.”

Sharing buildings

The meeting was told the fire service was considering sharing more buildings with other emergency services to cut costs, but the fire service needed to have bases spread across the county to reach emergencies in good time.

City of York Council leader Councillor Keith Aspden told the meeting recruitment issues over on-call firefighters had persisted for a long time, but overall funding was the key issue.

“Every time I see the fire minister I ask about capital grants for fire services and precept flexibility.  Unless something happens nationally things are going to get very difficult, particularly for services like this with relatively small budgets and rural areas.”

Interim Chief Fire Officer Jon Foster told members on-call recruitment remained a challenge due to changes in people’s lifestyles and covid had further impacted on it.

He said the service was examining changing terms and conditions and flexibility of being an on-call firefighter as the system was very outdated, paying a small amount for being available and a larger amount to attend calls.

After the meeting, the panel’s chair, Councillor Carl Les said:

“I think the situation is bleak. The fundamental problem is the overall funding for the fire and rescue service.

“Arguments will be made that the government grant could and should be increased, but also the fact that the precept regime with the fire and rescue service is very limited.

“I think we need to lobby the government that for small rural forces like North Yorkshire it would be useful if there was flexibility to go above the two per cent increase cap and levy an extra £5 or £10.

“We know that delivering services in rural areas is more expensive than delivering services in cities.

“For a number of years resources have been difficult to find to allocate for things like buildings and machinery that are getting older.”