Rabbit Hill Country Store will close for good today.

The store has sold a wide range of animal and pet products, as well as gardening items and workwear, since 2016.

Located close to the A1 on Rabbit Hill Business Park at Arkendale, between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough, it has played a major role in the farming and rural community.

Landscape and forestry supplier Green-tech owns the business park and the store.

In a social media post, the store said “the many external variables and well documented strains on retail outlets has led us to take this difficult decision”, adding:

“The closure of Rabbit Hill Country Store will allow the Green-tech team to concentrate our efforts and resources on the ambitious growth plans of our other brands.

“We would like to thank every customer, supplier, colleague and friend that has supported Rabbit Hill Country Store over the years it has been appreciated.”

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The store has been holding closing down sales in recent weeks, and today advertised 70% off products for its final day. It is due to close at 4pm.

One person responded to the news on social media by saying:

“The store is well used and a vital asset for the local rural community.”

Another said:

“It is a shame that a store that has supplied the local domestic and farming community is to close.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Green-tech for further details but it declined to comment.

A Porsche driver has been jailed today after causing the death of a cyclist on the A168 near Boroughbridge.

James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents on May 10, 2020, when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, York Crown Court heard.

Bryan was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after a trial in September. However, he admitted causing death by careless driving.

He appeared for sentencing at York Crown Court this morning, where he was jailed for nine months.

‘Distracted by something’

During the trial, which began last month, prosecutor Anne Richardson alleged that in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park, Mr Bryan must have been distracted by “something” because Mr Jackson was clearly visible.

She claimed that evidence showed he must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media.

Mr Bryan had taken cocaine and been drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.

A roadside test in the aftermath of the crash showed that although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine, or a cocaine breakdown product, in his system.

Ms Richardson claimed that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the accident, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.

He was on his way to drop off some groceries at his parents’ house who were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm.

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Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving. He denied the allegation but admitted causing death by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle.

Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.

She claimed Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.

The off-duty doctor who was at the scene said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.

Police knock ‘changed our lives forever’

Andrew Jackson

During the sentencing hearing today, a victim impact statement from Mr Jackson’s father, Paul Jackson, was read in court.

Mr Jackson said he and his wife, Ruth, can remember the knock on the door from police which he said “changed our lives forever”.

He said:

“He was only 36 years old when he was killed. He was in the prime of his life.”

Mr Jackson added that he and his wife “found it difficult to express how the loss has affected us”.

Mr Jackson’s wife, Jenny, told the court today Andrew was her “best friend and team mate” and that it was “so hard not having him around”.

She said:

“My children should be growing up to know what it feels like to be hugged by their father.”

In mitigation, Bryan’s defence said the defendant had expressed remorse and had suffered from “fragile mental health”.

Ms Dower said he had suffered from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder since the crash.

She said:

“If Mr Bryan could turn back the clock, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“Whatever sentence this court imposes today, we all know that Mr Bryan is going to have to live the rest of his life knowing that his careless driving killed Mr Jackson.”

Sentencing Bryan, Judge Simon Hickey said that Mr Jackson was “there to be seen” and not at fault for the collision.

Judge Hickey said a combination of tiredness and “interaction with a device” led to Bryan hitting Mr Jackson.

He said:

“That is why you hit Mr Jackson from behind. 

“No blame is attached to him… because of your inattention he could have been avoided.”

Bryan was jailed for nine months, of which he will serve half before being released.

He was also disqualified for two years and ordered to pass an extended driving test before being allowed to drive again.

A major national functional fitness competition is being held in the Harrogate district for the first time on Sunday.

Rep it Out will see 80 athletes from across the country pair up and compete at Black Wolf Fitness, at Rabbit Hill near Knaresborough.

The top athletes will go through to the CrossFit-licensed national finals.

It is a huge coup for the district as competitions of this scale are usually held in the south.

Sophie Laird, event organiser, said:

“Since we relaunched Rep It Out this year, we’ve been looking for gyms across the UK to hold our activation events, giving as many people as possible a chance to enter and experience being on the competition floor.

“The majority of competitions are held in the Midlands or London, so when we came across Black Wolf Fitness, we knew it would be the perfect spot.

“We hope to see some new faces entering the competition scene and can’t wait to test everybody’s fitness.”

Rep It Out is a same-sex pairs competition, which will feature ‘scaled’ and advanced ‘RX’ divisions.

Each division, which will include athletes from CrossFit Harrogate, will complete four functional fitness workouts across the day.

Winners from each category will be entered into the CrossFit-licensed Rep It Out finals.

Black Wolf Fitness launched at Rabbit Hill Business Park in August 2020 and now has more than 100 members.

Danielle Broughton, who owns the gym with her fiancé Adam Whiter, said:

“It’s a huge opportunity for Black Wolf to have high-end athletes coming to the gym and such a well-known competition foundation, which allows us to be on the CrossFit functional fitness map.

“It’s also great for our athletes to be able to be able to perform in such a big competition on home ground.

“It also allows Adam and I to see how such a big competition is run and hopefully in the future we will be able to do something similar.”

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Ms Broughton said both she and Adam felt a huge sense of pride that their members were at a standard to be able to compete at this level.

She said:

“Being able to have a membership that are able to compete comfortably in a competition like this is a huge achievement. Many of them only started competing a year ago, so it is huge really. It is testament to the consistency of our members.

“We are really excited. We all know what the atmosphere is like at a competition and to see it going on our box is going to be pretty awesome.

“To see athletes come from outside and use this space that we have created really is a dream.”

Spectators will be allowed at the event, however they must register for a free ticket here.

Sunday’s workouts will be released on the Instagram page @repitoutuk.