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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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Bettys applies to create new baby changing room in Harrogate tea rooms

A new baby changing facility could be created at Bettys‘ Parliament Street tea rooms if planning permission is given.

The company proposes changing the layout of its basement toilets to allow a separate room to be created for baby changing, rather than the current changing table within the ladies’ toilets.

The building is Grade II listed so permission has to be given by Harrogate Borough Council for any changes to be made.

As part of the application, a design and heritage statement said:

“Currently, the building does not have any separated room for baby change, accessible to all. The current baby change use allocated within the ladies toilet.

“Firstly, the proposal aims to divide the existing ladies customers toilets to create two separated rooms within the existing space, with two independent doors from the Spindler corridor. This allows the baby change to be used independently.

“Secondly, the proposed refurbishment creates an opportunity to enhance the design for the female toilets and baby change with the general palette through the rest of this building and other Bettys branches.”

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The proposed design would replace the dark wooden panels and tiled flooring with new materials including limestone and timber, as well as updated decor including wallpaper.

A fireplace in the ladies’ toilets will also be refurbished as part of the project.

To view the full application, click here to visit Harrogate Borough Council’s planning site and use reference 22/01430/LB.

Unison awaiting answers over Harrogate council staff using public toilets

The trade union Unison is still in talks with Harrogate Borough Council over some staff having to use public toilets during office hours.

The union first raised concerns in April when plans to move Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre into the Courthouse Museum got underway.

As part of the move, roles are set to be amalgamated — tourist information officers and museum assistants will become ‘visitor experience assistants’ and become part of the council’s new Destination Management Organisation led by Gemma Rio to coordinate tourism.

The museum site doesn’t have adequate on-site toilet facilities, forcing staff to use public toilets on Cheapside.

Unison has argued the situation was never ideal and is now no longer viable as more staff join them.

The council and union representatives have met in recent weeks to discuss alternatives. The union is now waiting for the council to respond.

David Houlgate, Unison Harrogate branch secretary, said:

“We’ve asked them [the council] to identify somewhere for staff to have decent welfare facilities. We both agree Portakabins wouldn’t be suitable.”

The union has said it is also making contact with local organisations to see if it’s possible for staff to share facilities.

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Mr Houlgate added:

“The union understands there won’t be any compulsory redundancies but there may be some voluntary redundancies. We want to avoid any compulsory redundancies.”

‘Not possible to install toilets at museum’

A council spokeswoman said

“The Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre has relocated into the Courthouse Museum at Knaresborough Castle as planned. This coincided with the castle’s reopening following lockdown on July 19.

“The decision to relocate the tourist information centre into the courthouse museum pre-dates the creation of the Destination Management Organisation and the restructure that is currently being undertaken.

“There is no toilet available on site at Knaresborough castle and museum and due to the historic nature of the site it is not possible for us to install one.

“For this reason the staff at the castle are required to use the public toilets in the adjacent car park which are owned, managed and cleaned by Harrogate Borough Council.

“Staff at the Castle have used these public toilets for as long as the site has been staffed. However, we are continuing to explore alternative arrangements within the vicinity”.