Three months of nighttime roadworks are scheduled to begin tomorrow on the main road between Ripon and Harrogate.

The A61 will be dug up as part of fibre optics company City Fibre‘s £46 million digital infrastructure upgrade in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

Traffic lights are scheduled to be in place until July 13.

Kim Johnston, regional partnership director at City Fibre said:

“Works will take place 7pm to 6.30am, Monday to Friday, with the road returned to two-way traffic every morning.”

A City Fibre spokesperson added “there may be a small amount of weekend work, subject to confirmation with highways”, adding:

“If this is the case, City Fibre will actively avoid any weekend with a major local event like Harrogate Flower Show.”

The entire length of the A61 between Ripon and Harrogate will be affected, including some residential areas.

Asked whether people could expect drilling and other noise at nights, a CityFibre spokesperson said it “working closely with the council and managing disruption as best they can”.

City Fibre is installing next generation full fibre connectivity to almost every home and business in the area.

Ms Johnston added:

“This is a major undertaking, which is why we work closely with our build partner, local authorities and the council’s highways team to manage disruption as best we can and ensure works are delivered quickly, and always to our high standards.”

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A consortium led by Farmison & Co founder John Pallagi has submitted a bid to bring back the firm.

The premium online meat retailer ceased trading nine days ago and went into administration with the loss of 75 jobs.

But Mr Pallagi said he and two “high profile Yorkshire businessmen” made an offer last night to administrator FRP to buy the business and its assets.

He said the offer, if accepted, would revive Farmison and provide jobs for 50 staff.

Mr Pallagi said the consortium believed in the business model and recognised the value of the firm to Ripon. He added:

“Farmison is very important to Ripon and I am thrilled that we have attracted the interest of high profile Yorkshire businessmen with proven track records.

“It’s great that we’ve got to this point but we are not there yet.”

FRP said on Wednesday it planned to begin the sale of assets. It will now assess the bid before deciding whether to accept it.

Mr Pallagi said he hoped to have an answer by midday Monday so Farmison could operate again as quickly as possible and “create the best level of continuity possible”.

Not only have jobs been lost, but the supply chain has also been interrupted.

Last year Mr Pallagi sold the award-winning firm, whose customers include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, to Scottish private investors Inverleith LLP.

Mr Pallagi remained as chief executive and a new three-year business plan was agreed.

FRP’s statement on Wednesday outlined the issues that brought down the award-winning company after the takeover. It said:

“The business recently underwent a fundraising process to secure external investment to support its business plan but did not secure a sufficient level of interest.

“Following a period of significant operational investment, the business has not generated the required level of revenues to sustain its high cost base.”

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A Ripon car dealership is set to close its doors at the end of the month after the manufacturer decided to pull out of the city.

Piccadilly Motors will close its branch in Dallamires Lane on Friday, April 28 after receiving notice that Fiat was ending its franchise agreement.

Customers have been invited to use the company’s sister site on Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough, which will continue to trade as a Kia dealership as well as offering serving for Fiat, Abarth and Alfa cars.

The Knaresborough branch is less than 10 miles away from Ripon, and the Piccadilly team said it has introduced extra support for customers travelling from the Ripon area, including more courtesy cars.

Managing director Simon Watts told the Stray Ferret:

“We have managed this carefully and because of the growth of the business we have in Knaresborough, most customers have already migrated to the Kia product and we’re also doing Fiat for servicing at Knaresborough, as well as MOTs.

“It’s the same with staff. We’ve really handled that in the most sympathetic manner we could. Fortunately, only one person will lose their job, who doesn’t want to travel, but they’ve managed to get another job elsewhere.

“It has been an absolute priority for us to handle it in the most customer- and colleague-friendly manner.”

Mr Watts said the company had looked to find another manufacturer to bring to its Ripon branch, but in a challenging market it had not been possible.

Demand for used cars is high in the UK, leading to low supply for dealerships. The looming prospect of changing legislation over sales of petrol and diesel cars is also having an impact, as manufacturers work to deliver more electric vehicles in time for the 2030 cut-off.

Fiat has only been selling the 500 model, Mr Watts said, and the low volume of sales had led it to restructure its network. He added:

“It’s disappointing, but thankfully we’ve got a business in close proximity that can carry on providing a service.”

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A naked walk is to be held near Ripon to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

British Naturism, which promotes naturism, is organising fundraising walks in which people will strip off and feel the breeze on their skin at gardens, stately homes and castles across the country.

The seven venues taking part in this year’s Naked Heart Walks include the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, between Ripon and Masham.

It will host a two kilometre walk for over-18s only on July 1.

This year’s walks are clothing-optional so there is no compulsion to strip naked.

An Ipsos poll commissioned by British Naturism in 2022, revealed almost seven million Brits describe themselves as naturists or nudists.

Andrew Welch, national spokesman for British Naturism, said:

“Taboos around nudity are eroding and the health and well-being benefits of going naked are more widely understood, with more and more people wanting to get the exhilarating feelings for themselves.

“I’m delighted to see the number of our Naked Heart Walks more than double this year and would encourage anyone to come and give it a go — and raise much needed funds for our charity partner.”

Ben Bishop, fundraising manager at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“There are lots of ways you can support the BHF and this is one of the more unusual, but why not try something new?

“Whether you dare to bare or keep your clothes on you can take part knowing that you will be helping our researchers find the new treatments and cures that can keep families together longer.”

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Retailer M&Co is to close its branch on Fishergate in Ripon a week on Saturday.

The Scottish company, which sells clothes and homeware, went into administration for a second time in December.

Yours Clothing bought the website, brand and intellectual property but not the shops.

It means all 170 M&Co stores have either closed already or will do so shortly. About 1,900 staff are affected.

Remaining stores are offering up to 60% discounts.

Retail manager Shirelle Wallace-Hoyle posted on the Ripon M&Co’s Facebook page:

The UK’s largest-ever health research programme has arrived in Ripon and is seeking volunteers aged over 18 from all backgrounds and communities to take part.

Administrators running collapsed Ripon firm Farmison & Co said today it planned to begin the sale of assets.

FRP took charge of the company on Thursday, when it ceased trading and most staff lost their jobs.

Farmison co-founder John Pallagi held talks over the bank holiday with a consortium led by two Yorkshire businessmen about reviving the business.

But there has been no news of a deal since and FRP has now issued a statement clarifying the situation.

The statement outlined the problems that brought down the award-winning company. It said:

“The business recently underwent a fundraising process to secure external investment to support its business plan but did not secure a sufficient level of interest.

“Following a period of significant operational investment, the business has not generated the required level of revenues to sustain its high cost base.

“In recent weeks interest in the business and assets has been explored but a transaction could not be completed, and the directors have therefore placed the company into administration.”

The statement confirmed Farmison had ceased trading, adding:

“Regrettably, the majority of its 75 roles were made redundant. A skeleton staff has been retained to support the joint administrators in fulfilling their duties as they move towards an asset sale, notably the brand, goodwill and intellectual property.”

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Arvindar Jit Singh, partner at FRP and joint administrator of Farmison, said:

“Farmison had made significant investment in recent years in its operations as it aimed to carve out a differentiated brand and offering in the online retail space.

“However, it proved too heavy a burden to sustain without the uplift in sales that it had expected.

“Without a major capital injection, the business could not continue trading and we must now commence an asset sale. We encourage any interested parties to come forward.

“In the meantime, we have a specialist team working with impacted staff to access support through the Redundancy Payments Service.”

Customers and creditors can contact the administrators by emailing farmison@frpadvisory.com.

Residents and visitors in Ripon are to benefit from easier travel with improved bus services to many parts of the city.

The city’s bus network is being boosted to help encourage sustainable travel following a series of new retail and housing developments.

From Monday, the current Ripon services – RS1 Lark Lane, RS2 Lead Lane and RS3 Gallows Lane – will increase in frequency and see routes extended, as well as operating on Saturdays. A new route, numbered RS4, will serve North Bridge.

The current services run between 9.25am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and for some time Ripon City Council and the newly formed North Yorkshire Council have been pushing for expansion.

The improvements have been made possible due to funding from developers including CDP Marshall at St Michael’s Park and by Harron Homes at Doublegates and Bishops Glade. Ripon City Council is also contributing, alongside the existing provision made by North Yorkshire Council.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“We are pleased to support these much-needed improvements to public transport in Ripon. The services will be of benefit to all, particularly residents of the new housing developments.

“We have been working closely with the city council, developers and partners to improve the level of service. We want more residents in Ripon, and across North Yorkshire, to be able to choose public transport to get around sustainably.”

RS1 has a new timetable and route via Bishopton Lane, Ash Bank Road and Lark Lane which extends via the bus station to St Michaels Park for M&S Food Store. It will depart hourly from 7.15am to 6.15pm with additional journeys between the bus station and St Michael’s Park twice hourly.

RS2 and RS3 have a new timetable with an earlier bus at 7.40am and a later bus at 5.35pm Monday to Friday. The daytime service has new times and will run Monday to Saturday.

RS4 is a new route from the bus station to North Bridge via North Street returning via Magdalen’s Road. There are three journeys per day Monday to Saturday.

Ripon City Council has been working on the plans for five years. Cllr Peter Horton, who chairs the transport group, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the new unitary council and are extremely grateful for the assistance of officers in the passenger transport team.”

Store manager at M&S Ripon, Richard Johnston, said:

“This is brilliant news and helps our store become even closer to our community. It means customers further out will be able to enjoy our products and it’s also a great resource for our store colleagues.”

The services will be run with minibuses from Dales & District Travel and North Yorkshire Council. The timetables will be live from Monday next week (April 17) at www.northyorks.gov.uk/businfo

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Rare archive footage of the Ripon and Harrogate areas will be shown on a big screen this month.

The event is being jointly staged by Yorkshire Film Archive and Bishop Monkton Local History Group.

A professional film archivist will introduce a series of locally produced films as well as footage from other parts of Yorkshire.

Some were professionally shot, others were amateur home movies but all give an insight into how people lived around here in years gone by.

Work, holidays, leisure, sports, home life, transport and war are among the subjects featured in the films.

Some content was included in four recent sell-out events at the Odeon in Harrogate organised by Yorkshire Film Archive in conjunction with Harrogate’s Civic Society and FIlm Society.

The event will be held at Bishop Monkton Village Hall on April 27 at 7pm.

Clips from some of the films that will be shown can be viewed here.

Tickets are free to Bishop Monkton Local History Group members and £10 to non-members.

They are available from Annabel Alton on 01765 676538 or via email annabel@annabelalton.com

There will be a cash bar selling wine and soft drinks before the event and during the interval.

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A man from a village near Harrogate has been jailed for six months for assaulting police officers.

James Ashley Gibb, 34, initially denied attacking three police officers in Ripon Market Place on October 28 last year.

But Gibb, of Ripon Road, Killinghall, changed his plea and was sentenced at Harrogate Magistrates Court last week.

Court documents say he was jailed due to the seriousness of the offence and also “because of different kinds of assaults including biting, kicking and threat of spitting and committed whilst on post-sentence supervision”.

The offence was aggravated by the defendant’s record of previous offending, the documents added.

The incident in Ripon Market Place last year

Gibb also pleaded guilty to using racially aggravated threatening or abusive words.

He was also given a concurrent four-month prison sentence for threatening a person on Station Parade in Harrogate on January 14 this year.

Besides being jailed, he was fined £275.

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