A “THOROUGHLY dishonest” builder and former landlord has avoided an immediate return to jail for his latest large-scale benefit fraud, because he is 61 and cannot walk far. Geoffrey Laverack has now cheated York’s tax and council tax payers
Elkie Brooks has postponed the first night of her 50th anniversary concert tour at Pocklington Arts Centre on Saturday January 9 as a consequence of the extreme weather conditions across the country. The show will be switched to Wednesday, April 28
It’s fair to say that many people will be glad to see the back of 2009: the year in which we entered the longest recession in British history, accompanied by record breaking levels of unemployment. While predictions abound that analysis will
THE patter of pooches’ paws was heard in York as the RSPCA held a fundraising dog walk. The event took place on New Year’s Day, starting at the the city’s Landing Lane centre and more than 50 dogs took part – both people’s pets and animals looking for
AN award-winning York company, which invented a device to test electrical systems, has launched new workshops to show health and safety experts how to buy and use it. First Stop Safety, whose PAT (portable appliance testing) device helped it to win the
A YORK school is looking forward to more exciting times ahead as it starts its first full year in its new £18 million home. Brian Crosby, the head teacher of Manor CE School, said the site in Low Poppleton Lane had “captured the ethos” of Manor and described
NESTLE, one of York’s biggest private employers has denied that it is interested in taking over its UK rival Cadbury, but its actions may hasten the takeover of the firm by US food giant Kraft. Kraft, which closed down Terry’s plant in York to move production
THE lease for part of the Odeon/Reel cinema building in Blossom Street, York, is on the rental market. Agents Sanderson Weatherall are offering a 589 sq-ft street facing unit there for £12,000 per year exclusive of £4,219.50 business rates, service charge
YORK’s education boss said 2009 had been a good year for the city’s children with more good news to come this year. Coun Carol Runciman, City of York Council’s executive member for children and young people’s services, said while 2009 had gone out on
A MAJOR new partnership has been established between the University of York and one of the UK’s leading art institutions. The university’s department of the history of art has developed the new accord with Tate Britain. From this academic year, a curator
Companies across the country are being invited to sign up to the Six Book Challenge this month, and encourage their employees to read six books before June. National charities the Campaign for Learning and The Reading Agency have joined forces to launch
A YORK apprentice scooped silver in a national competition celebrating the achievement of students in the heating and pipe fitting industry. Nick Lester, 25, who works as a mechanical and electrical engineer for York-based building company SES, battled
A WOMAN has been killed after being hit by a lorry on a North Yorkshire motorway. The tragedy happened just before 2.30am today on the southbound cariageway of the A1, just south of Catterick village, with police closing both lanes of the route
How much longer will it be, before York council comes to the aid of its residents in this prolonged icy weather? I agree with Derek M Martin (Letters, January 2). There must be plenty of people who can assist the council workers. The area which affects
WORLD improvement is the 2010 aim for North Yorkshire’s leading golfer Simon Dyson after a momentous past 12 months. Dyson’s 2009 was the best of his ten-year career. He captured two European crowns – the KLM Dutch Open for the second time
I would like to assure Mr Robb (Gritting list, Letters, January 2) that the council has a wealth of information relating to the gritting of roads and footpaths carried out since it first snowed on December 17, far too much to put in a letter. All
I AM all in favour of retaining the ice rink at the Eye of York, to provide an opportunity for all the residents of the city, both young and old, to make good use of it, and learn how to stay upright on the pavements in this continuing wintry weather.
At 12.30am on New Year’s Day I was taking the air at the back door, after seeing in the New Year, when I became aware of a loose formation of ten bright orange lights in the sky, moving quite fast from east to west above York. Viewed with binoculars
YORK City have been asked to provide an explanation for their late arrival at Stoke City on Saturday. Kick-off for the FA Cup third round clash was delayed by half an hour at the Britannia Stadium after the team coach encountered traffic problems
RECENTLY, on television, the Government has stated how many benefit cheats it has prosecuted and claimed back the money. What it does not state is how many tax dodgers and cheats it has prosecuted, who rob this country of billions of pounds each year
My brother and I went to put some flowers and a wreath on our parents’ grave at Fulford Cemetery. I was more than shocked to discover the state of the pathways at the cemetery. They were like skating rinks and extremely dangerous. At this time of the
I TEND to agree with Richard Smith’s letter on cycle lanes (Pavement perils, December 29). I actually wrote a joke chorus about it, in the old music hall style: “Have you ever seen a cycle in a cycle lane, Have you ever seen a cycle on the road?
I noted from The Press (UK & World News, December 29) that the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police force enjoy free rail travel on trains within a 70-mile radius of the capital, even while off duty, at a cost of £107 million to the taxpayer
YORK City manager Martin Foyle is looking for a loan move for left-back Andy McWilliams. The Leeds-born defender has not started a senior game for the Minstermen this season and the last of his three substitute appearances came at home to Cambridge on
ALL this weekend's fixtures in the York Minster Engineering Football League have been postponed. The league have made an early decision about Saturday's fixture programme after forecasts of more heavy snow and frost. Referees' secretary
I heard with interest that the Halifax Bank now thinks more than 39 per cent of local authority areas have homes that first-time buyers can afford. I doubted this, but decided to try out its website to see if as a first-time buyer I could get a mortgage
There was a major shock in the York Badminton League when Clifton ‘A’ beat hosts York RI ‘A’ 5-4 in mixed division one. Erik Wagenaars and Gill McIntosh swung the match with a 21-14, 22-20 win over Sam Gardner and Nicola Coggins. That came after Kate
Pocklington Men’s team endured mixed fortunes in their three quick-fire games in the York Badminton League. They won 5-4 away at Selby/Drax ‘A’, then lost 7-2 at home to both St John and University Students ‘B’. Against Selby/Drax, Martin Anderson
THE big freeze gripping the North Yorkshire non-league football programme has claimed another two. Selby Town were forced to call off their West Riding County Cup second round tie with Yorkshire Amateur for a fifth time. The game had been rescheduled
THIRSK and Sowerby Harriers runner Oliver Harrison was 37th in a field of 113 for the Guisborough Woods race. Phil Sanderson, of NFR, won in a time of 40 minutes, with Harrison clocking 50-40. Club-mate Ernie Huck was 97th in 62-11 and Steve Harrison
FOOTBALL Mundial are looking for teams to join their six-a-side leagues in York. The organisations runs leagues on Astroturf pitches on midweek nights across the city and all competitions are currently free to enter. Each league has two or three divisions
It may have been 20 years ago today that Sgt Pepper taught the band to play, but every Thursday for the past 16 years two of York’s most popular jazz acts have entertained locals and visitors to the Old White Swan, in Goodramgate. The Mardi Gras Jazzband
Defender of the Knights tells Peter Martini it’s about the passion not the cash. IT’S probably hard to believe but Mark Applegarth started out in rugby league as a winger. He was 14 or 15 at the time, a relative newcomer to the sport. Yet now, a
IAN FENWICK LAWTON cannot remember when he last had a lie-in. While most of us are snuggling under the duvet during York’s coldest spell in 20 years, Ian’s alarm clock breaks the snowy-morning silence with a piercing shrill. He doesn’t need to look
CONCERN is growing for a missing gamekeeper and a 15-year-old boy. Part-time gamekeeper Ian Simpkin, of Wath, near Ripon, left his home on foot on Sunday morning. The alarm was raised that evening when he failed to return. Despite a two-day search involving
POLICE are still unable to identify the man whose body was found floating in the River Ouse. Police were called to the Toll Bridge in Selby at about 3pm on Monday when passers-by saw the body floating face-down in the water. The area was taped off for
HUNDREDS of revellers in York including a 97-year-old man were fined for being drunk and disorderly in the past five years. Information obtained by The Press under the Freedom of Information Act shows that between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2009
PLANS for a food store which could eventually replace the old Edmund Wilson Swimming Pool building in Acomb have been submitted to City of York Council. German retail giants Lidl have revealed detailed plans of what they hope to build on the Thanet Road
TWO heroin dealers who built a business on the streets of York have each been jailed for seven years after undercover police snared them on one of their drug runs. Alfred Phillip Dear and Thomas Lee Tunney supplied addicts with wraps of the Class A drug
THIEVES have stolen thousands of pounds of cigarettes from a newsagent’s shop in York. They struck while a delivery was being made, outside London’s at the junction of East Parade and Mill Lane, Heworth. The driver of a P & H Retail Distributions wagon
A FOUR-year-old boy with a highly aggressive form of cancer has begun gruelling chemotherapy treatment while his parents engage in a desperate fundraising race against time. Just days after spending Christmas with his family, young Jamie Inglis
TAXI drivers and passengers who hail cabs in the Selby area are being given the chance to have their say on whether laws surrounding the vehicles need toughening up. Selby District Council’s licensing committee will meet next week to discuss how it will
A MAN’S time off from his multiple jobs nearly put him behind bars when he broke another man’s jaw in two places with a single punch, York Crown Court heard. Matthew Mooney, 20, argued with Joshua Branfoot at the social club of Tadcaster Brewery. He
LEGO, toy racing cars, cuddly toys and even Christmas trees – these are just some of the festive items dumped in sewers across York and North Yorkshire over the past fortnight. A steady flow of Christmas related items has been turning up at Yorkshire
A MAN who was found tied to a tree in the snow wearing only a woman’s thong claimed he was left there by his girlfriend as a prank. The unknown man was seen by a woman walking along the Sustrans cycle path to her job at Morrisons yesterday afternoon.
Updated: A MOTORIST had a terrifying experience as his car skidded on to a level crossing with a 180-tonne train bearing down upon him. The drama unfolded at Hagg Lane level crossing, near Hemingbrough. A Ford Mondeo driven by a 44-year-old South Duffield
TIRED York council gritters deserve the encouragement and understanding of politicians – not grumbling from councillors who are wise after the event. That was the frosty rebuke for Labour councillors today from senior Liberal Democrat Steve
MOTORISTS have been warned the big chill is providing opportunities for car thieves. Police have advised drivers to take extra care to secure their vehicles and not leave them unattended while defrosting windscreens. Two cars were stolen yesterday,
THE bad weather forced the postponement of the official launch of York’s second Jane Tomlinson charity run. Former Olympic athlete Steve Cram and BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration had been due to join Jane’s widower, Mike Tomlinson, to launch
OPERATIONS have had to be put on hold at York Hospital after the snow left some of its staff unable to battle their way into work. Bosses at the Wigginton Road site said the icy weather which has descended on the region has increased the strain on its
THE deluge of snow which has fallen on North Yorkshire has dealt a huge blow to traders. Stores across the region were hoping for a bumper start to the new year as they slashed prices – but the bad weather has left them counting the cost as school closures
A WOMAN knocked unconscious in a fall from her bicycle was lucky to be alive today after a passer-by found her buried in the snow. The red rear light of Sarah Archdale’s bicycle was the only clue that she lay injured and unable to breathe.
A CANCER survivor who works as a volunteer for the charity that supported him through his illness is urging other people to offer their time to Macmillan Cancer Support in 2010. When James Lawrie, 58, was given the shocking news he had prostate cancer
A UNIVERSITY of York student has reached the final stages of a national film competition – with a place in movie-making history up for grabs. Ollie Wiggins is one of 30 people who have been shortlisted in The Pitch contest and must now wait until Monday
