A government minister was dispatched to Knaresborough on Monday to join local Conservative MP Andrew Jones MP to announce the River Nidd had been designated bathing water status.

Since then the town's King James's School has advised pupils not to swim in the river, a family has fallen ill after entering the water and today Extinction Rebellion Harrogate is planning to pretend to fish turds out of the river.

Bathing water status does not mean, as some have mistakenly thought, that the river has been declared clean. It means the Environment Agency will have to test water quality and, if the results are poor, implement plans to improve it.

Ripon's population looks set to grow by a third after councillors gave the go-ahead for the 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme.  Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams wasn't a member of the committee that voted but he put his name down to talk at the meeting so he could raise concerns about the impact on Ripon's military heritage and the Low Skellgate / Somerset Row junction.

Alas, he went to Harrogate when the meeting was held in Northallerton and almost missed his moment but turned up in the nick of time to have his say. We are backing Ripon Military Heritage Trust's campaign to save Ripon's military heritage as part of this scheme — you can sign the petition here.

One minute you're flogging shirts and ties; the next you're trying to scrutinise the county's top copper while he's bamboozling you with statistics. That's what's happened to Harrogate-born David Skaith, the owner of York shop Winstons menswear who was elected Labour mayor a fortnight ago.

He chaired the first meeting of the new York and North Yorkshire Office for Policing, Fire, Crime and Commissioning on Friday. The well groomed Mr Skaith looked a little nervous but held it together well and raised a question about the number of children subjected to stop and search. Curiously, the county's three top police officers that attended the meeting were all either new or temporary.

Anyone can submit questions to these meetings and get them answered by the police chiefs.

Finally, I'm beginning to feel like the only person who hasn't seen the Northern Lights. Once the preserve of the few who could afford trips to Iceland, they seem to be lighting up the sky more often than Blackpool illuminations these days.

I've even sat in vain in my car up Clint Bank to catch a glimpse. Fortunately, readers sent in some glorious images that we loaded into this gallery.

Read more:

• Nine players to leave Harrogate Town as club confirms retained list


• Ripon choir school conversion set for summer completion


• A look behind the scenes of the Great Knaresborough Bed Race