Police investigating a cannabis farm discovered in a unit on Ingleton Industrial estate, near Skipton, last month have arrested three more people in connection with the investigation.

This brings the total number of arrests so far to four.

Officers carried out the latest arrests on Monday morning, when two men aged 45 and 19 and a 17-year-old boy were detained at two addresses in Bentham.

As a result of the arrests, £2,500 was seized from one of the properties and equipment believed to be used in the cultivation of cannabis and worth thousands of pounds was seized from an address in Halton, Lancashire.

All three arrested people have been released on police bail.


King Richard III petition launched

RICHARD III campaigners are calling for the king’s remains to be taken to a chapel of rest before his reburial this spring.

A petition has been launched by Philippa Langley, the woman behind the Looking for Richard project, which discovered his remains beneath a Leicester car park, calling for the king’s bones to be laid in a coffin in a holy place – instead of the box in a the university laboratory that has stored his remains since 2012.

She said: “We wanted him to lie in a chapel of rest. They refused. Now we are petitioning for the very least you would want for anyone, and especially for your war-dead: to be coffined reverently in a holy place of his own religion.”

The online petition runs until Tuesday, February 24, when the results will be handed to the re-interment board in Leicester, and is at change.org/p/leicester-cathedral-richard-iii-should-be-coffined-in-a-holy-place-not-as-scientific-specimen.


Chance to see the stars

YORK Observatory is hosting a free opportunity to see the stars tonight. 

The observatory in York Museum Gardens will have its historic Thomas Cooke telescope pointed towards the heavens to look at the details of the moons surface and any stars and planets which come into view from 6pm to 8pm. 

Tickets must be booked in advance by going to yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/your-visit/events/ and clicking on the relevant Eventbrite link.


Fracking attack

THE Green Party’s candidate for York Central has hit out at law makers failure to stand up to fracking companies, after MPs rejected a moratorium on shale gas extraction in a Commons debate on Monday Jonathan Tyler said: “Fracking is bad for health, the environment – and democracy. The chaotic procedures in Parliament showed how our present system of Government is failing us all”.

He said Anne McIntosh, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton should be congratulated on the success of her amendment preventing fracking in National Parks, but criticised York Outer MP Julian Sturdy for voting with his party.

The Labour Party abstained on the vote in the Commons, with York Central MP Hugh Bayley neither speaking nor voting.
 

Grand Départ revisited

GARY Verity is to tell a York audience ‘How Yorkshire Wowed The Tour de France’.

The Welcome To Yorkshire chief executive will host York St John University’s next Go York lecture on the evening of Thursday, February 12.

Organisers said: “Mr Verity led the winning bid to bring the Grand Départ of the Tour de France to Yorkshire last year and was instrumental in the entire process from start to finish.

“It became the grandest Grand Départ in the history of the race and one of the greatest sporting events ever to have taken place in the UK.”

The event will start at 6.30pm in the Fountains Lecture Theatre, with an arrival reception from 5.45pm. The lecture is free and open to all.
 

Police probing Wall of Sound theft

HUMBERSIDE Police are trying to trace a man following a theft from The Wall of Sound Audio Visual Ltd in Holme-on-Spalding Moor.

A police spokesman said an Apple iPad had been stolen from the premises on Market Weighton Road at approximately 2pm on Saturday, December 20.


New fundraising group for York

A NEW volunteer group has launched in York, raising funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The York East Fundraising Group met at the local Monkbar Hotel to celebrate the launch of the group on Monday, and to make a start planning their fundraising activities.

The group will be getting involved and hosting many Great Daffodil Collections in the York area on behalf of Marie Curie and local residents are invited sign up and get involved too.

Lizzie Sanders, Community Fundraiser at Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: “The new Fundraising Group in York East will make a huge difference locally by helping to raise the vital funds needed to support Marie Curie Nurses, who provide free care to people with terminal illnesses in their own homes."

To join or for more information, contact Lizzie on 01904 755260 or elizabeth.sanders@mariecurie.org.uk.


Dog rescuers raise £3.5k

A RESCUE group which saves dogs from death row raised more than £3,500 at a special fair to launch the group.

Saving Yorkshire’s Dogs (SYD) held the event at Masham Town Hall with market stalls and games to help spread the word about the work the group is doing. Over £1,000 was donated by Ann Richardson from the estate of dog lover Shirley Hughes.

Chair of the group Judith Hart said:” It was a fantastic donation for which we are really grateful, and there was amazing support from stall holders. We also gained a few new supporters so it was a really wonderful event.”

SYD was set up to help vulnerable and at risk dogs which are in danger of being put down. They already have 50 volunteers working in the Bedale, Ripon and Masham area, with six rescue kennels run by them.

Ms Hart said they are in touch with other rescue groups and local vets. They have already saved several animals including Alfie a Saluki cross lurcher which was dumped in a neglected state with a broken leg.

A further event, a quiz night is being held at Masham Town Hall on Wednesday, February 11, with a fish and chip supper, to book a place call 07562 986101.


Viking discovery lecture

THE results of investigations into a newly discovered Viking-age fortress in Denmark will be the highlight of the 2015 Jorvik Viking Festival lecture programme in York next month.

The talk, Discovering Borgring: A Viking Fortress Reveals Its Secrets, is an opportunity to hear from the archaeological team which led the excavations at Borgring, discovered near the old city of Køge, south of Copenhagen, in September 2014.

Dr Søren Sindbæk and Dr Nanna Holm will recount the ground-breaking archaeological detective story which led to the discovery.

the first such monument to be identified in Denmark for over 60 years.” and reveal their results, which place the find in an international context.”

The lecture takes place on Thursday, February 19, at the Guildhall, at 7 pm. Tickets cost £12 for adults, £10 for concessions, and include welcome drinks and nibbles, served from 6.30pm. Pre-booking is strongly advised.

For more information and ticket information, go to jorvik-viking-festival.co.uk.