Top Gear stars in Harrogate this afternoon

The stars of BBC show Top Gear were in Harrogate this afternoon filming.

Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris visited used car dealership Classic Marques on Ripon Road while filming the 31st series of the motoring programme.

Sales manager Dom Sibbles told the Stray Ferret they were told they’d have some extra special customers a few days ago.

The Top Gear fan said the trio brought with them a couple of used cars that they’d been using for stunts in Scotland to value.

He said:

“They were really, really nice guys and we had a good laugh with them.”

Read more:

The visit surprised 18-year-old Joe Gosling and his mum, who both live over the road.

Joe got a selfie with the former England cricketer Flintoff who he described as a “really cool guy”.

He said:

“We had a chat about cricket. All of the crew were friendly and he was happy to have his photo taken.”

Killinghall roadwork misery set to continue for extra week

Roadworks at the junction of Otley Road and Ripon Road in Killinghall are to continue for an extra week.

Long queues either side of the village have been a regular site since temporary traffic lights were installed on Monday.

Northern Powergrid wrote to nearby residents before the scheme began saying work would last 10 days until Friday 4 while it excavated a trench and laid cables beneath the pavement outside the Tesco being built on Ripon Road.

But residents have not been informed of further work due to take place from February 7 to 11.

According to the North Yorkshire County Council’s roadworks map, broadband and water works will begin once the current work has ended.

The work by Openreach and Yorkshire Water will again involve three-way traffic lights, which are likely to cause more delays to motorists.

Read more:

A spokesperson for Openreach said:

“We have some minor works taking place between 7 and 9 February. This is to lay around 30 metres of underground ducting. To enable our engineers to work safely, we will require temporary traffic lights.

“We will work as quickly as we can do and make every attempt to co-ordinate the timing of our work with other companies to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Traffic in Killinghall this week has been described as “chaos”, with tailbacks of up to two miles reported during rush hours.

Traffic and Travel Alert: Heavy traffic in Killinghall near roadworks

There is already heavy traffic in Killinghall this morning near the construction works on Ripon Road.

Work started yesterday and is due to finish on February 4. Northern Powergrid is laying cable for an electric vehicle charger outside the new Tesco Express.

Three-way traffic lights have been installed at the junction with Otley Road. Buses and lorries are unable to turn in and out of Otley Road from Ripon Road.

The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.

We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.

The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.

Roadworks bring morning ‘chaos’ to Killinghall

Temporary traffic lights in the centre of Killinghall brought “chaos” to the village’s roads this morning.

Northern Powergrid began work today excavating a trench to install cables beneath the pavement outside the Tesco Express, which is being built on Ripon Road in the centre of the village.

Three-way traffic lights have been installed at the junction with Otley Road and buses and lorries have been prevented from turning in and out of Otley Road from Ripon Road while work is carried out.

The area is always busy at peak times because it is the main route between Ripon and Harrogate. But this morning the works led to particularly heavy traffic and delays to the 36 bus run by Harrogate Bus Company.

The situation had calmed down by mid-morning but long delays at rush hour are expected for the next 10 days while work is carried out.

‘Avoid Killinghall at all costs’

One resident in Killinghall described the situation as “chaos” at rush hour.

They told the Stray Ferret:

“Bus stop outside new Tesco shut. Northern Powergrid have three-way traffic lights on junction and the other contractors are here doing the footpath work as well. Avoid Killinghall at all costs.”

Another resident, who was driving between Ripley and Harrogate, said the journey which would normally take a couple of minutes was now “taking more than half an hour” due to the temporary lights and traffic. They said traffic was particularly bad heading into Harrogate.

Read more:

Traffic problems caused delays and cancellations to Harrogate Bus Company’s 36 service.

The company said its service would continue to run as normal, but passengers should expect delays at peak times due to the heavy traffic on Ripon Road.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Bus Company said:

“Planned work by Northern Powergrid is taking place in the Otley Road/Ripon Road area of Harrogate, from today. This means our service 24 between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge will be diverted in the Killinghall area, and will be unable to reach stops between Redfearn’s Garage and Grainbeck Lane. This diversion is expected to remain in place until Friday, February 4.
“Full details of alternative arrangements are being advertised to keep our customers informed, including on our Twitter feed ‘@harrogatebus’ and on our free to download Transdev Go mobile app.”

Northern Powergrid wrote to residents last week. It said:

“There will be a certain amount of disruption during the implementation of this work but every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum.”

Traffic disruption expected in Killinghall next week

Delays are expected in Killinghall next week when new electricity cables are laid for the village’s forthcoming Tesco Express.

Temporary traffic lights will be installed and buses and lorries will be prevented from turning in and out of Otley Road from Ripon Road.

The measures will allow Northern Powergrid to excavate a trench and install cables beneath the pavement outside the Tesco on Ripon Road.

Northern Powergrid has written to residents saying work is expected to last 10 days. The letter says:

“There will be a certain amount of disruption during the implementation of this work but every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum.”

The letter adds the traffic lights will “inevitably lengthen journey times” and buses will be affected.

A barrier and temporary walkway will operate outside the Tesco for pedestrians.

Read more:

A spokesman for The Harrogate Bus Company, which is part of the French company Transdev, said:

“This will mean our service 24 will be diverted in the Killinghall area, while journeys on our 36 route may also experience some delays.

“Full details of alternative arrangements are being advertised to keep our customers informed, including on our Twitter feed ‘@harrogatebus’ and on the free to download Transdev Go mobile app.”

The Stray Ferret asked Tesco when the store was due to open. All it would say was “early 2022”.

Jennyfields residents urged to be patient over gas leak payments

Jennyfields residents still waiting for £60 gas compensation payments have been told they will be issued automatically.

About 3,500 homes in Jennyfields were without gas for 48 hours after a major gas leak on Ripon Road in October.

Northern Gas Networks, which distributes gas to homes and businesses in Yorkshire, the North East and northern Cumbria, automatically issues £60 compensation payments through customers’ gas suppliers for loss of supply for more than 24 hours.

But six weeks after the leak, which the company said affected more people than any other incident it had dealt with in the last 18 months, some people have yet to be paid.

Eileen Brown, customer experience director for Northern Gas Networks, told the Stray Ferret some payments had been delayed because gas suppliers had gone out of business.

Ms Brown said Northern Gas Networks would process the payments when it was notified of the new suppliers. She added if it made the payments before then they could be delayed even longer because they would get tied up in lengthy administration processes.

Read more:

She pledged all 3,500 homes would be fully compensated automatically and asked residents not to call Northern Gas Networks requesting payments.

“Payments will be coming to them. They don’t have to do anything for it.”

Asked how long people could expect to wait, Ms Brown said it was likely to be weeks rather than months but added the timings were “beyond our control” because of the need to wait until customers were transferred to new suppliers.

Some customers on the priority services register are also entitled to £48 compensation payments for the provision of alternative heating. Again, Ms Brown pledged they would be made.

‘1 in 43 years occurrence’

The leak occurred when sub-contractors damaged a pipe during deep excavation work about three metres below the surface of Ripon Road, near the Hydro.

Northern Gas Networks converted the Styan Community Centre in Jennyfields into an emergency hub to respond to the incident.

A total of 355 Northern Gas Networks engineers and volunteers helped that weekend, aided by 30 voluntary organisations. The company gave away 800 electric heaters, “slightly fewer” electric hobs, 50 oil filled radiators and 1,500 food vouchers worth £10 each.

The company’s response was widely praised by people in the area.

Ms Brown said the loss of gas supply happened on average once every 43 years and most customers would not experience this again in their lifetimes.

Asked how much the incident had cost Northern Gas Networks, she said she was unable to say but added:

“We do the right thing for customers. The cost is the cost. It’s about being there for customers.”

 

Harrogate gas leak: public meeting to be held

Northern Gas Networks is to hold a public meeting to discuss the recent leak that left 3,000 Harrogate homes without gas for 48 hours.

Discussing the cause of the leak for the first time, the company said in a statement that sub-contractors had damaged the underground pipe on Ripon Road in Jennyfields, where roadworks were taking place.

Gas supply to homes in the HG1, HG2, HG3 and HG4 areas was affected for two days from October 15 to 17. The Styan Community Centre in Jennyfields was converted into an emergency hub where residents could collect electric heaters and food vouchers.

The statement added the company had informed the Health and Safety Executive, the government agency responsible for workplace safety, and “instructed an internal investigation to understand the full circumstances”. No further details have been released.

It said:

“While the internal investigation is still ongoing, Northern Gas Networks can confirm that the gas pipe was damaged during essential gas mains replacement work which was being carried out by a specialist sub-contractor working on behalf of Northern Gas Networks.

“In the coming weeks Northern Gas Networks will be hosting a public meeting and inviting customers and stakeholders to join Northern Gas Networks colleagues to reflect on the incident and take a deeper look at the events of that weekend.

“The purpose of the meeting is to give customers the opportunity to share their feedback and for Northern Gas Networks to gather valuable insight to enable them to continue to improve their response.”

Read more:

John Richardson, customer operations director at Northern Gas Networks, said:

“The safety of our engineers and members of the public is our priority and we are supporting the teams and contracting partners involved to ensure that we learn from what happened and put the appropriate measures in place so that safety is never compromised.”

Traffic lights on Ripon Road, which had been in place since early September while Northern Gas Networks completed engineering work to upgrade metal gas mains, were removed last weekend.

 

Roadworks on Harrogate’s Ripon Road delayed for third time

The completion date for the Northern Gas Networks roadworks on Ripon Road in Harrogate has been put back again.

Traffic lights were initially due to operate for four weeks from September 6 on the busy route into Harrogate town centre for what the company described as “essential work to modernise the gas network in Harrogate”.

But they were still in place when a major gas leak, which affected 3,000 homes for 48 hours, occurred on October 15.

North Yorkshire County Council has already granted roadwork extensions until October 22 and October 28.

Now Northern Gas Networks has said it expects work to continue throughout this week.

Scott Kitchingman, business operations manager at Northern Gas Networks, said:

“We had expected to remove temporary traffic lights on the Ripon Road at the end of last week, however we have encountered a delay in completing the final stages of our work and traffic management will remain in place this week.

“We know that no one likes roadworks and we would like to thank everyone for their patience while we complete this essential work.”

Northern Gas Networks said on October 17 it would carry out a “full investigation” into the gas leak but it has not released any details since, despite requests from the Stray Ferret.

Read more:

 

Harrogate gas leak: cause still not revealed as roadworks continue

Northern Gas Networks has yet to reveal what caused the leak that left 3,000 Harrogate homes without gas last weekend.

Gas could be smelled for miles around following the incident at the Ripon Road roadworks near the Hydro leisure centre. Thousands of electric fan heaters, electric hobs and food vouchers were distributed to residents in the Jennyfields area.

An emergency hub opened at the Styan Community Centre to help those affected.

One week on, the cause remains unknown and the roadworks, which were initially due to last for four weeks from September 6, are still ongoing.

John Richardson, director of customer operations at Northern Gas Networks, said a “full investigation” would take place after a new pipe was laid.

He said:

“Our engineers are continuing to closely monitor the gas network in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate while we complete our essential work.

“We’re aware that some people were experiencing low gas pressure yesterday, which occurred while we worked to permanently repair the gas pipe. Our engineers responded promptly and normal pressures were restored the same day.

“We worked around the clock, laying a further over-land bypass pipe to increase the gas available to the local network and also increased gas pressure in the area to ensure that supplies were maintained while our engineers worked.

Read more:

“Once a new pipe has been commissioned this weekend, we will be carrying out a full investigation into the cause of the gas escape, which occurred on Friday 15 October.

“Temporary two way traffic lights will remain in place at the junction with Grainbeck Lane and Otley Road for another week while we complete our essential work to modernise the gas network in Harrogate.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, said:

“We approved an extension to the roadworks on October 6 lasting until October 22. Northern Gas Networks has since requested an extension until October 28.”

What caused Harrogate’s huge gas leak?

Northern Gas Networks has yet to reveal what caused a huge gas leak in Harrogate that left 3,000 homes without supplies for two days.

The company, which distributes gas, opened an emergency hub at Styan Community Centre in Jennyfields on Saturday to help people without hot water or cooking facilities.

It gave away thousands of electric heaters and hot plates and distributed £10 meal vouchers.

The company’s rapid response earned praise from locals but it has yet to say what caused Friday’s leak, which could be smelt for miles around.

John Richardson, director of customer operations at Northern Gas Networks, said:

“We will be carrying out a full investigation into the cause of the escape in Ripon Road, and it is not possible to comment further at this time.

“Our priority right now is to get the remaining properties reconnected to the gas.”

Read more:

Temporary lights have been in places near the Hydro on Ripon Road since September 9. The work was scheduled for four weeks so it had already overrun before Friday’s incident.

People were evacuated from the Hydro on Friday.

Asked what the works were for, why they were delayed and when it would finish, a Northern Gas Networks spokeswoman said:

“This is essential gas mains replacement works to modernise the gas network.

“The scope of works changed after the project began, which extended the duration of the work.

“We’ll advise on a completion date as soon as possible, but traffic management is likely to be in place for another couple of weeks.”