Investigations are ongoing into an attempted arson at a petrol station in Pateley Bridge, police have said.

The incident happened between 1.45am and 2.45am on Sunday, May 14, at the Dales Market Corner petrol station in the town.

According to North Yorkshire Police, two men walked onto the forecourt, placed a backpack in the area and set it alight. The backpack then self-extinguished.

Two men were arrested in connection with the attempted arson following the incident.

A 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson, while a 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson and criminal damage.

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Both have since been released on conditional bail and no charges have been issued.

A police spokesperson said today that an investigation into the attempted arson is ongoing.

Jill Cowling, detective inspector from Harrogate CID, said previously:

“We’re treating this incident as deliberate, and enquiries are continuing.  Thankfully no one was injured, but we will be increasing police activity in the area to provide additional reassurance to the public.

“As part of the ongoing police investigation I’m now appealing for people to come forward about any suspicious activity at the location on the night of Saturday 13 and in the early hours of Sunday 14 May 2023.”

Police arrested two people in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate today on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this afternoon said officers attended a property on Norwich Drive after receiving reports of suspicious activity.

A man and a woman were arrested and a suspected weapon, drugs and mobile devices were seized.

The pair remain in custody.

No other details were released.

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The reduction in the number of fire engines based in Harrogate overnight is expected to take effect next year.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe announced the move last year as part of her three-year fire service blueprint on how resources would be deployed in the county.

The reduction, which is part of a shift towards fire prevention, prompted widespread concerns about safety, particularly life-threatening delays at Starbeck level crossing if a second fire engine were required in an emergency.

Conservative Ms Metcalfe also agreed to reduce the number of overnight fire engines at Scarborough and to have on-call rather than full-time firefighters at Huntington, near York.

Harrogate fire station

Her draft fire and rescue annual report for 2022/23, which was discussed by a panel today, says North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is consulting with trade unions around the implementation of the changes to Huntington station.

The report adds this is expected to be finalised by the end of the year then ‘Harrogate will form the second phase of implementation’.

Harrogate firefighters affected will be redeployed to other stations or roles, including fire prevention roles.

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Harrogate and Scarborough will have two larger emergency rescue fire engines during daytime, when most fires occur. They currently have one of these and one smaller tactical response appliance. Her report says:

“This will increase the capacity and capability to respond to an emergency when demand is at its greatest, improve resilience across the service area and increase the opportunity to undertake prevention and protection activities during these hours.

“This change will take place at Harrogate first and, on completion of a full review of the implementation of the change, be extended to Scarborough.”

An ambulance waiting at Starbeck level crossing — there are fears this will happen more frequently to fire engines under the changes.

Councillor Pat Marsh, a Liberal Democrat who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone on North Yorkshire Council, said the changes were putting people “at risk”.

She added:

“I totally support the emphasis on prevention but we still need to make sure that if accidents and incidents happen we have the right response with the appropriate number of fire engines and firemen.

“The government should set a standard service per head of population. Our Residents should get the service they pay for not a reduced service.”

Police are appealing for information after an e-bike was stolen from a street near the centre of Boroughbridge.

The red and black Ersin mountain bike, which has hub motors in both the pedals and rear wheel, was taken from St Helena between 11pm on Saturday, July 15 and 5am on Sunday, July 16.

Anyone with information that could help the investigation should call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option four, and use reference 12230132029.

Alternatively, to report information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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An 18-year-old former Harrogate man has been sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders institute for making and distributing indecent images of children.

Dylan Paul Ansell also admitted possessing extreme pornography and a prohibited image.

Besides his 18-month sentence, Ansell was handed a 10-year sexual harm order, ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and given a five-year restraining order when he appeared at York Crown Court yesterday.

Ansell, now of Camping Close, Haddenham, Ely, but formerly of Harrogate, answered “no comment” when first quizzed about content found on devices seized from his address on August 20, 2021.

However, during a trial at York Crown Court he later pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent photographs of children, three counts of distributing indecent photographs of children, one count of possessing extreme pornography and one count of possession of a prohibited image.

Ansell also pleaded guilty to stalking — he used false social media accounts to repeatedly target a victim, which has had a lasting impact on their day-to-day activities.

Speaking today after sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Sullivan of North Yorkshire Police‘s online child abuse team said,

“The devices seized from Ansell’s home were found to contain hundreds of illegal images and videos – including category A indecent images of children, prohibited images of children between the ages of three and 17 years, as well as extreme pornography.

“Ansell also manipulated photos of children that he knew and shared them with others online, without their knowledge, for sexualised purposes. He was also actively involved in an online network that created and shared indecent images of children.”

He added:

“His actions have caused significant distress to his victims, including one of whom he repeatedly stalked using false social media accounts. In addition to this he has shown blatant disregard to the bail conditions that were put in place, by repeatedly attempting to contact the victim, causing additional stress and anxiety. He has shown absolutely no remorse for this.

“I’d like to commend the bravery of that victim and their family, who due to Ansell’s repeat offending had to endure a prolonged investigation. They have all shown strength and determination throughout our enquiries and the resulting court process.”

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Police in Ripon are appealing for help to trace a man they want to speak to in connection with a series of incidents in the city.

A man was seen trying door handles on Wemyss Road around 3am on Wednesday, May 31.

After one door was found to be unlocked, a set of car keys was stolen. A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said:

“Officers are asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the man in the image or know where is can be found.”

Anyone who can provide information should email gareth.skelton@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option two, and ask for Gareth Skelton.

To report information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, quoting reference number 12230098370.

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A woman who went missing from her care home in Harrogate last summer was found two weeks later just metres away from a police search area, an inquest heard today.

Judith Holliday was 73 when she left her care home in Harrogate on the morning of Saturday, August 27.

Her body was found two weeks later, on Saturday, September 10, along the railway embankment at Weeton.

At an inquest held in Northallerton this morning, coroner Jonathan Heath heard a post-mortem was unable to ascertain a cause of death. However, the pathologist who carried it out said it was likely she died from hypothermia not long after she was last seen.

The inquest heard the alarm was raised after Ms Holliday, who had a condition affecting her brain after suffering two haemorrhages since 2015, left Harcourt Gardens around 10.30am on Saturday, August 27.

She said she was going to visit her niece, who lived nearby, but she never arrived, and police were contacted later that day. Mr Heath said:

“The reason that she left and signed herself out will, regretfully, never be known.”

The inquest heard a member of staff at Harrogate Bus Station saw an appeal for information and quickly passed CCTV footage of Judith passing by to North Yorkshire Police.

Further footage of her on Station Parade was then found, but the trail went cold after that.

Ms Holliday was seen on CCTV along Station Parade

Over the following days, as the appeal for information reached more people, a number of sightings of Judith were reported in North Rigton.

She had flagged down a car in south Harrogate around 2.40pm and the occupants had given her a lift to the village. The front-seat passenger, who was named in court, said Ms Holliday told them she was going to meet her friend, but later that she was going to visit her grandparents.

In a report read out during the inquest, the passenger said:

“She seemed very calm, quiet and composed when she got into the car.”

The occupants dropped her at the Square and Compass pub, where a waitress also reported seeing her at about 3.30pm.

Ms Holliday was reported to have walked through the pub and back out of the door, staying around two minutes. The waitress did not see which way she went after leaving.

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The new information moved the police search to centre around the pub. Over the following days, the search expanded, following paths and routes away from the village and stretching down as far as the A658, which runs adjacent to the railway line south of the village.

During the inquest, Ms Holliday’s family said they were grateful for everyone’s help in the search, but asked why it had not extended further, to include the railway line.

PC Dan Preston, a specialist search advisor, said research showed that physical barriers in the land often stop people who are missing and unsure where they are. He said the road was 500m from the pub where she was last seen, adding:

“We have to draw a line and unfortunately that’s the line we draw at that point. I can’t offer you more than that, unfortunately.

“We got so close because of all the statistics we have… I understand you want the answers. It’s frustrating, because we were so close.

“I don’t think it would have changed the outcome, unfortunately.”

Meanwhile, a woman who saw the appeals for information to trace Ms Holliday made a report to police in the week following her disappearance.

She said she had seen a woman on the embankment adjacent to the railway near North Rigton around 6.20pm on the Saturday, as she travelled on the train from Kings Cross to Harrogate. In a statement read out at the inquest, the passenger said:

“I guessed she must be picking blackberries, though I did think it was strange she was in that location.”

However, officers who had been involved in organising the search told the hearing they had not been passed the details of that reported sighting.

The Dunckeswick Lane level crossing. Photo: Roger Templeman/Geograph

On Saturday, September 10, another passenger on a train between Harrogate and Leeds called police to report seeing what they believed was a body in the undergrowth.

Officers arrived and found Ms Holliday’s body around 200m west of the level crossing at Dunkeswick Lane.

She had moved into Harcourt Gardens in early June, where the inquest heard she had settled well. Mr Heath added:

“She had a loving and supportive family and, regretfully, in the latter part of her life she had had some health issues that meant that, effectively, she couldn’t live on her own.

“It would appear from what I’ve read that that was a good move for her, in that she quickly settled, she found friends and her communication skills improved.”

Mr Heath delivered a narrative conclusion, used when there is no clear evidence of a single cause of death.

He said the cause of Ms Holliday’s death was unascertained, but that it was confirmed when she was found by the railway line at Weeton on September 10, after she went missing on August 27.

Inquests have opened into the deaths of two men killed in separate road collisions in the Harrogate district last month.

Taxi driver Mohammed Masum Miah, 45, died when his car “was struck by another vehicle”, said North Yorkshire coroner Catherine Cundall in an inquest yesterday.

She said the collision, on June 18, caused his black Peugeot to leave the A61 near Harewood, adding:

“He died at the scene as a result of injuries sustained.”

The inquest, held at the coroner’s court in Northallerton yesterday, was suspended to allow for completion of the police investigation into the collision.

Mohammed Masum Miah

A second inquest was opened into the death of James Paul Gomersall.

He was the front seat passenger in a collision on the B6265 near Score Ray Lane, between Whixley and Thorpe Underwood on June 24.

Mr Gomersall, who lived in Green Hammerton and was just 18, died at the scene.

His inquest was also adjourned to a later date while the police investigation continues.

North Yorkshire Police yesterday said nobody has been arrested in connection with either collision.

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North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that a missing girl from Knaresborough has been found.

Officers said she was reported missing on Monday this week.

However, the force confirmed this afternoon that she has since been found.

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Emergency services were called to a street in Harrogate today after a man became trapped underneath a car.

North Yorkshire Police, the ambulance service and an air ambulance were called to Winksley Grove at 12.45pm.

The man was freed, checked over and taken to hospital for treatment.

The air ambulance was not needed.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said the man’s injuries were not believed to be serious.

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