The Harrogate Vet is set to open a new 24-hour hospital.

The practice, which opened on Leeds Road in 2019, is owned by parent company and integrated veterinary services provider CVS UK Ltd.

It shared the news on social media this afternoon.

The post said building work on its new “state-of-the art veterinary hospital” on Ripon Way had begun and it was due to open this summer.

Veterinary surgeon Diane Cole told the Stray Ferret the new site will include five consult rooms, two surgery theatres, a dental suite, a CT machine and on-site parking.

Ms Cole added:

“Katherine, the founder and clinical director, set up the practice in 2019 and I joined shortly after. We’ve always wanted to open a second site that offers 24-hour care.

“We’re all about providing the best possible service and we know to do that we need to offer 24-hour care. I’d come from working in that environment, so it was something we’ve both always wanted to do.”

The existing Leeds Road site. Pic: Google Maps.

Ms Cole also said her and Katherine Jacklin felt there was a “gap in the market” for emergency veterinary services in Harrogate town centre, adding:

“It just doesn’t seem fair to have to refer people to practices in Wetherby, Leeds or Ripon when they live in Harrogate.

“We’re also hiring more vets with specialised certificates, so we’ll be able to deal with much more specialised cases and complex surgeries at the new site.”

She said the practice will be expanding its team of vets, nurses and receptionists as part of the expansion.

The Harrogate Vet treats all small animals including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and tortoises.

Only existing clients of the practice will be able to use the services to begin with, Ms Cole added.

She also said:

“Because the building is already there, we’ve been able to really take the time to plan the layout of the new site. The rooms need to be as coherent and stress free as possible for both the owners and animals, especially when they’re coming in for a sad reason, so we’ve put a lot of effort in to make that happen.

“We’re just so excited about opening.”

Ms Cole said the practice does not have an official opening date for the new site yet.

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Councillors have approved a variation of Crimple’s alcohol licence so the venue can serve alcohol and offer live music until 2am on weekends.

The garden centre on Leeds Road near Pannal had a multi-million-pound makeover in 2021 and now offers a food hall, restaurant, and space for weddings and other events.

North Yorkshire Council’s sub-licensing committee met in Harrogate this morning to consider the application.

Licensee Tori Watson told councillors that varying the licence from its current cut off of 11.30pm would allow the business to provide an extended bar service at weddings and for bands and DJs to play later into the night.

Mrs Watson said:

“We hold a lot of events and it’s becoming more and more popular as our reputation has grown.

“It won’t be for every Friday and Saturday, it’s just we get enquiries for weddings and they say can we have bar open until 1.30am or 2am. It allows us to say, ‘yes we can’.

“We’re not trying to open some late night venue with partying.”

Licensee Tori Watson

Councillors heard there has been one noise complaint at the venue in the last nine years which came in 2021 but was found to be unsubstantiated.

However, the application has received several objections on noise grounds, including one from Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council on behalf of residents living at the nearby All Saints Court in Pannal.

Parish councillor Howard West said:

“The problem is people who live in All Saints Court. They are not a complaining bunch of people but if there’s a nuisance sound after 11.30pm they would have no idea who to communicate to at that time of day.”

However, the Conservative chair of the committee, Cllr Tim Grogan, queried why none of the residents had gone to the premises to complain in person. He said:

“If I’d have been living there and was discomfitted by the noise I’d be knocking on the door to say ‘turn this down’, but I can’t speak for other people.”

Mr West also read out a statement on behalf of Dunkeswick wedding venue Wharfedale Grange, which said it was forced by the council to spend £750,000 on sound proofing in order to offer live music.

It said it was “extremely disappointing” that Crimple’s application could be considered without similar noise mitigation requests.

The committee of three councillors ultimately voted to approve the licence. They imposed conditions preventing customers from using the rear terrace after 10pm, ensuring loud speakers are not used outside, and requiring all windows and doors to be closed when entertainment is taking place.

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A major road through Harrogate is set to be closed for patch resurfacing at the end of this month.

A section of the A61 Leeds Road will be closed for five hours from 6.30pm every day for three weeks from Tuesday, August 29.

It is to allow for patching up damaged parts of the carriageway, between the Prince of Wales roundabout and the St George’s roundabout.

Confirming the closure, which its roadworks map said will last until September 18, North Yorkshire Council said:

“Patching takes place to repair the road surface, it involves removing a part of the surface around a pothole or defective surface course and placing a new patch of road surface.

“This is a cost-effective method to repair damage when a small area is affected and precedes surface dressing.”

Meanwhile, two new sets of roadworks in Harrogate are expected to be removed by the weekend.

Yorkshire Water has this week installed temporary lights on Otley Road at the junction with Cold Bath Road and Arthurs Avenue.

The roadworks, which include temporary pedestrian crossing signals, are expected to be completed tomorrow.

Roadworks on Otley Road

And a stretch of Yorkshire Water works on Leadhall Lane, close to the junction with Throstle Nest Drive, is also expected to be removed by Friday.

Works that Northern Gas Networks began on Duchy Road on Monday, however, are expected to last until August 25.

Temporary traffic lights that have been causing long queues on Skipton Road are due to end on the same date. However, further works are expected to be carried out on the road, close to the junction with Bilton Lane, in September.

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Police and firefighters are at the scene of a traffic accident on Leeds Road in Harrogate after a car crashed into railings.

The incident happened at about 10am at the roundabout where Leeds Road meets St George’s Road.

Debris from the vehicle was scattered on the road.

An eyewitness told the Stray Ferret there were two police officers and two fire crews attending at 10.30am today.

They added it did not appear anyone had been seriously injured.

We will update this story when more information is available.

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Developers have resubmitted plans for new homes in the Crimple Valley.

The application by Square Feet Ltd and Antela Developments Ltd would see the homes built at Almsford Bank Stables on Leeds Road.

Harrogate Borough Council rejected proposals for 35 homes in the area back in November 2022.

However, the developer has now reduced the number of homes to 17.

It includes 10 self or custom build homes and seven affordable houses.

The council had previously refused the plan on the grounds that the site was not allocated for housing under the Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which outlines where development can take place.

It added that the plan “would result in harm to the character and appearance of its surroundings”.

However, the developer said in its planning documents that it had submitted a “wide range of technical and assessment works” in support of the proposal.

It added:

“It is concluded that there are no technical reasons relating to these matters why planning permission should not be granted.”

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The development has long been opposed by local residents as part of the Save Crimple Valley group.

The group has argued that the site is “unsafe” for such a scheme and urged the council to reject the plan last year.

The previous scheme was met by more than 240 letters of objection.

A decision on the new plan will be made by the new North Yorkshire Council at a later date.

A senior highways officer at North Yorkshire County Council has been told to focus on delivering walking and cycling schemes in Harrogate following the scrapping of two high-profile projects in six months.

At a meeting of the Harrogate & Knaresborough area constituency committee in Harrogate today, North Yorkshire County Council highways officer Melisa Burnham gave a presentation to councillors that updated them on the current direction of active travel in the town.

Ms Burnham reaffirmed the reasons for scrapping the second phase of the Otley Road cycle path and said why it decided to not continue with the Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood after an 18-month pilot. She said both schemes had faced public opposition.

She said the council is expecting an answer from the government tomorrow on whether they have been successful in funding bids for segregated cycle routes on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate and the section of Knaresborough Road between Mother Shipton’s Cave and Harrogate Golf Club.

She also said the results of a long-awaited study into improvements in the Oatlands Drive area will be published next month. In 2021, the council scrapped plans to make the road one-way following fierce opposition from local residents.

In 2019, the council undertook a major public consultation regarding congestion in Harrogate where over 15,000 people responded.

It showed there was an appetite for active travel as 77% of respondents said they would like better walking and cycling routes.

But since the survey, only the much-criticised first phase of the Otley Road cycle path has been delivered and still remains.

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This promoted Chris Aldred, Liberal Democrat councillor for High Harrogate & Kingsley, to suggest the people who said they wanted more active travel are being let down by the county council.

He said:

“We need to get our act together and to be faithful to the 15,000 respondents of that survey. It’s even more congested than in 2019 and we need to start doing things.

“Hopefully we’ll have some more money tomorrow. I’d like to see that Victoria Avenue scheme happen in the next 12 months as it sends out a message we’re actually serious about active travel.”

‘Thank you for seeing sense’

Sam Gibbs, Conserative councillor for Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate, thanked the county council for “seeing sense” on phase 2 of the Otley Road cycle path.

The unspent money that was earmarked for the cycle path will now be spent on an as-yet-unannounced scheme in the Otley Road area.

Cllr Gibbs said:

“Thank you for listening. It’s long been a criticism of the county council, perhaps unfairly, that they haven’t always listened. 

“Thank you for seeing sense on the Otley Road cycle way. I’m not against the idea of cycle ways but Otley Road just wasn’t working. I’m sure we can spend that money on something far better.”

He added:

“I hope we’ve learned the lessons from Otley Road and other things and going forward we can get an active travel scheme that does what it says on the tin and does not hinder those that are using it.”

Ms Burnham also revealed the county council has undertaken feasibility studies into reducing traffic on Leeds Road. She said design options are being developed and will be issued in the coming weeks.

This was welcomed by John Mann, councillor for Oatlands & Pannal.

 He said:

“Leeds Road is an exceedingly busy road with 27,000 vehicles a day. We get long queues at the Pannal and Marks and Spencer traffic lights and we get queues all the way back to Butterside Bar roundabout. Congestion is very severe along that road so any proposals to alleviate that would be much appreciated.”

Police have arrested two men on suspicion of conspiring to steal vehicles in Harrogate.

Officers acting on intelligence stopped a grey Seat Leon on Leeds Road near Pannal on Friday (February 24) at about 8pm after observing the men behaving suspiciously, North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today.

The statement said the suspects, both in their 30s, were getting out of the car and approaching other vehicles in Harrogate.

It added:

“Both occupants and the car itself were searched by officers, and a number of tools including pliers and screwdrivers were located. 

“As a result, both men – aged in their 30s and from Leeds – were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.”

Both men have been released on bail pending police enquiries.

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Two drug dealers have been jailed after being caught with thousands of pounds worth of cocaine in Harrogate.

Angel Angelov and Tsonko Peev, both 25 and from Leeds, were sent to prison after pleading guilty to possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

On the afternoon of November 10 last year, officers from North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite team, which tackles county lines drug dealing, stopped a vehicle on its way to Harrogate from Leeds.

The driver, Angelov, was searched, and found with 26 bags of cocaine in a mint tin and a lock knife.

Some of the cocaine seized by North Yorkshire Police.

As the investigation continued, officers stopped another vehicle on Leeds Road in Harrogate on December 5. Inside were Angelov and Peev. 

This time, Angelov was found with 20 bags of cocaine hidden in the lining of his coat, and a further 11 bags were found hidden by the handbrake.

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Both were charged and pleaded guilty at York Crown Court yesterday (February 7) to the offences.

Angelov was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. Meanwhile, Peev was jailed for two years and three months.

PC George Frost, from the Operation Expedite team, said: 

“Following a swift investigation, two drug dealers have been taken off the streets of Harrogate, along with thousands of pounds worth of Class A drugs.

“Dealers like Angelov and Peev seek to exploit the vulnerabilities of users and their addictions for their own selfish financial gain. The effects of drug dealing and drug use are felt far and wide, leading to violence, anti-social behaviour and acquisitive crime.

“I hope the people of Harrogate and wider North Yorkshire feel reassured by the result of the investigation and the jail sentences. We are committed to protecting the vulnerable in our communities, and are working night and day to keep drug dealers out of the area.”

Harrogate traffic cop TC Craig Taylor has been a police officer for 20 years – 16 of which have been policing Yorkshire’s roads.

In that time, he’s stopped drug drivers, pursued motorists speeding and been at crime scenes where a drink-driver has killed someone.

These days, he’s on Harrogate’s roads making sure that cars are abiding by the speed limit.

On a cold, crisp Tuesday afternoon, the Stray Ferret joined TC Taylor on a patrol to see what he faces on a daily basis.

‘No one sets out to have a collision’

“I don’t think people set out to have a collision,” TC Taylor says as we head down Leeds Road in his BMW.

He says that drink and drug driving is what the force is particularly looking out for at Christmas.

While he has come across 16 years worth of incidents involving drivers under the influence of drink and drugs, he says none set out to do anyone harm.

“No one that I have ever come across ever thinks ‘that’s what I’m going to do today’.

“But they ruin their own lives and other people’s lives.”

TC Taylor first started by patrolling Bradford and Leeds before moving to police the roads in Harrogate.

TC Taylor, who has been a roads police offer for 16 years.

While the metropolitan cities of neighbouring West Yorkshire may seem a different world for policing, he says there is not much difference.

This week North Yorkshire Police launched its  “save a life, call it in” campaign, which urges people to call out drivers who appear to be under the influence on the county’s roads.

Amid the plea to the public, TC Taylor says there is not much difference between finding drink drivers in the centre of Harrogate to out on rural roads where they “feel safer” driving home.

“It’s a broad mix.

“Obviously you’ve got more chance [of catching drink drivers] where it’s more densely populated and where you’ve got more drinking establishments.

“But you could have the same person thinking ‘I’ll drive home, it’s only a couple of miles up the road’.”

While some cases of drink driving are stopped before an accident happens, TC Taylor has experience of incidents which don’t end so well.

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As we pull over on Leeds Road to carry out a speed check, he talks about a crash where a businesswoman killed two pensioners while under the influence of drink.

The woman had been out on a Christmas party, where she had got drunk and decided to drive home.

As she drove home, she turned onto a main road and crashed into a parked car where the two pensioners were unloading their shopping. Both were killed.

“That’s one that always sticks in my mind.”

TC Taylor carrying out a speed check on Leeds Road, Harrogate.

Last year, police arrested 137 people during their December campaign for drink or drug driving in North Yorkshire.

From the 137 arrests, 120 were men and 17 were women. 72 people of the 137 were charged with an offence. A total of 25 of the arrests were made following a crash. 

TC Taylor points out that when it comes to a fatal crash, there is always an underlining factor involved.

“Sometimes it can just be an accident. You can slip on some diesel on the road, but that’s few and far between.

“Generally speaking if you’ve got 100 cars that drive down this road, 99 of those cars will go on the same road and the same path.

“But the one car that doesn’t and ends up running into a tree and ends up fatal, that’s normally because there’s another factor involved.”

‘We will prosecute if we have to’

Armed with his speed gun and fluorescent jacket, he starts to point at oncoming drivers down Leeds Road – which he says is a common area for speeding in the town.

Most drivers spot TC Taylor in the distance and begin to temper their speed.

He pulls over a woman who was going too fast and orders her to take a breathalyser. She passes and is given words of advice before being sent on her way.

TC Taylor says that it is not the case that every driver needs to be prosecuted.

“We will prosecute people if we have to, but it’s about education as well.”