North Yorkshire Police today issued an appeal to find a key witness follow a sexual assault in Harrogate.
The incident, which happened in the Victoria Shopping Centre toilets, took place on September 17.
A man and a woman entered a cubicle together and police believe the man in the image may hold important information.
The force said in a statement:
“The suspect in the case has been identified and officers want to stress that the man they want to trace is not a suspect, but a witness who may be able to provide vital information.
“A man and a woman went into public toilets in Victoria Shopping Centre in Harrogate, opposite the railway station.
“They were both followed into the toilet by the man in the image below. The man appears visibly surprised to see both the man and woman enter the male toilet together and may remember the incident.”
The statement added officers hope the man reads the appeal and gets in touch because he “may be able to provide key information that could assist their investigation”.
The police added:
“If you believe that you are the man, or you also saw a man and woman in the male toilets that day, please get in touch.
“Anyone with any information is asked to email lorraine.whipp@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, press option 2 and ask for Lorraine Whipp.”
Quote reference number 12230176639 when passing on information,
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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Vandals force closure of public toilets in Ripon
Public toilets close to Ripon Cathedral have been closed due to vandalism.
The cathedral alerted people to the news, which affects the Minster Place toilets, on social media yesterday.
It said:
“Due to repeated vandalism and the need for essential repairs, North Yorkshire Council have temporarily closed the public toilets opposite Ripon Cathedral.
“If you are visiting the cathedral during half-term, please use alternative public toilets in Sainsbury’s car park.
“The repairs should be completed within seven days.”
Minster Place hosts one of four sets of public toilets in Ripon. Facilities are also available at Spa Gardens, the bus station / Sainsbury’s car park and the Wakeman’s House, according to the council website.
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Council hires West Yorkshire company to clean Ripon toilets amid staffing issues
North Yorkshire Council has hired a West Yorkshire company to clean toilets in Masham and Ripon amid staffing issues.
Cleaning at public toilets in both areas of the Harrogate district were previously carried out by the local authority.
However, council officials said the service had been “failing” due to a lack of staff and the toilets were at risk of closure if a contractor was not brought in.
As a result, a £32,760 contract has been directly awarded with no competitive tender to Marsden Contract Services.
According to the government’s contract portal, the company is based on Hollins Lane in Keighley although its website says it is based in Skipton.
Karl Battersby, corporate director for environmental services at the council, said the move was necessary as a recruitment process had found “no suitable applicants” to take on the cleaning roles.
When asked why the service was not put out to competitive tender, Mr Battersby added:
“Toilet cleaning has been undertaken in Ripon and Masham by staff from North Yorkshire Council, and previously the former Harrogate Borough Council, but the service had been falling behind due to staffing issues, and our recruitment process had found no suitable applicants to take on the roles.
“A direct award was made with a trusted contractor as the service needed immediate attention.
“Failure to act quickly would have resulted in a fall in cleaning standards or closure of sites and neither of these options would have been acceptable.
“This contract is for one year to help us maintain our services, after which, if needed, we will follow a competitive tender process.”
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Man rescued from public toilets in Knaresborough
A man had to be rescued today when he got stuck in public toilets in Knaresborough.
Firefighters were called to the toilets at York Place car park at 4.46pm this afternoon.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are not known.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report gave only brief details. It said:
“A crew from Knaresborough released a male, unharmed, from a public toilet block, using a door enforcer.”
The public toilets at York Place are operated by North Yorkshire Council.
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Knaresborough firefighters had responded to a fire at the Tiger Inn at Coneythorpe early this morning.
Today’s persistent rain also saw firefighters respond to several flooding incidents in North Yorkshire.
One came from a home on Harlow Oval in Harrogate at 2.37pm. The incident report said:
“An officer responded to reports of flooding in the garden, approaching the doorstep. This posed no threat to the property, and no action was taken.”