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25
Jun 2020
The Stray in disarray: 'Biggest mess for six years'
Hundreds of young people gathered on the Stray in the sunshine yesterday evening in what some described as a festival atmosphere.
A volunteer who has cleaned the Stray for the last six years described the aftermath this morning as the worst he ever has seen.
His comments came as council workers and volunteers cleaned up the majority of the mess - something which they have been forced to do more regularly in recent weeks.
In amongst the bin bags are empty beer bottles, takeaway boxes, and laughing gas canisters. The grass is also scorched in some areas and there were reports of people using the Stray as a public lavatory.
The Stray Ferret found remnants of waste this morning and spoke to disgruntled locals.
Mike Lewis said that last night's events have put him off going for his evening strolls on the Stray. He said this morning:
Read more:
- Why Harrogate council cut down trees on the Stray
- When a group of young men won praise for cleaning up rubbish on the Stray
- A police appeal for information after a man exposed himself on the Stray
He described it as a losing battle and called for tougher punishments for offenders. Those calls are something the Stray Defence Association (SDA) is backing.
Judy d'Arcy Thompson, who is chair of the SDA, told The Stray Ferret:
Roger Hattam was on the Stray last night and took pictures of large groups. He told The Stray Ferret:
What are the authorities doing about it?
Harrogate Borough Council has issued a robust response to the litter this morning and labelled those responsible as selfish.
The council also said that it already spends hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ money every year to pick up litter.
https://twitter.com/OscarRomeo1268/status/1275997917300641793
North Yorkshire Police inspector Paul Cording was out on the Stray at 4.30am today. He posted a video on Twitter where he described it as "the morning after the night before".
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