Latest news with #Bedale
Times
2 days ago
- Times
Holiday Cottages fiasco cost my 95-year-old mum £1,500
In February my 95-year-old mum and I read a glowing review of Ruth Hansom's restaurant in Bedale, North Yorkshire, and decided it was the perfect place to celebrate my sister's 60th birthday. We looked for a holiday cottage nearby with space for four people. We wanted to make sure everything was on one level due to Mum being frail and my brother-in-law having Huntington's disease. We found the perfect place through the website Gorgeous Cottages and Mum offered to book it on her debit card. She paid £1,499 for a week-long stay in May, which was a lot but we felt it was worth it for a special birthday. We later noticed that the confirmation email came from a company called Original Cottages rather than Gorgeous Cottages. Then in March, Mum caught pneumonia. The medical staff said it was unlikely she would be fit to travel in May. I called Original Cottages to postpone the trip (I have power of attorney for Mum). The agent was polite and said they would move the booking. As the cottage was booked up throughout the summer, we chose a week in November instead to combine celebrations for my birthday. I called the company again to arrange this and it said it would check with the owner. In May I got an email from another company, this time called Holiday Cottages, saying the owner of the accommodation mentioned that I wanted to cancel. I explained that I wished to postpone the trip rather than cancel, but it claimed that the owner would not move the booking. I had the owner's phone number on the booking confirmation, so I called her and she said she had no problem moving the dates and that the booking platform was preventing this. I called Original Cottages again and it suggested that if I cancelled, it could advertise the cottage and if someone else booked it for the same dates, Mum might be able to get her money back. I agreed to this. It then confirmed that the booking was cancelled and said it would let us know if the dates were rebooked. But since then the cottage hasn't shown as available on those dates, so unsurprisingly Mum has not had a penny back. We didn't think to get travel insurance for a UK trip, which in hindsight we should have done, but we cannot believe the callousness of this company. Mum was seriously unwell and dealing with this has been an additional energy-sapping endeavour at a really distressing time. I also feel deeply aggrieved that I don't even know which holiday company I am dealing and address supplied • We nearly missed our daughter's wedding, with no flight compensation Thankfully your mum has been discharged from hospital, but she is still bed-bound. This holiday company was making things much harder than they needed to be for your family at an already stressful time, and I could see why you were so confused to get emails from what appeared to be three different businesses. These three brands are part of the same company, Travel Chapter, which has brought them all under Holiday Cottages to simplify things for its customers. Travel Chapter said: 'We appreciate how this may have caused confusion during the transition. We're working to make this much clearer going forward.' The cancellation policy of the booking would only give you a refund of £140, but Travel Chapter said that in cases like yours, it tries to be fair to both the guest and the homeowner by offering a refund if the dates are rebooked by other customers. But it was impossible for anyone else to book a stay at the cottage when your dates were not shown as available on the website, as had been promised over the phone. Travel Chapter blamed this on a technical issue with the cottage's online calendar. This was hardly your fault and after I stepped in it agreed to refund your mum. Travel Chapter said: 'We're truly sorry for the distress caused and have since issued a full refund. When the booking was cancelled, the property wasn't made available to rebook — something that wasn't the customer's fault and shouldn't have affected them. We fully recognise the impact this had, and we're taking steps to make sure similar situations are handled better in future.' Considering you had spent so much time and energy trying to resolve this, I was disappointed that it didn't offer compensation. You felt let down by the company and said if your mum is in a position to travel again in the future, you will book with the cottage owner directly. On May 6 my wife and I visited our local Land Rover dealership, operated by a company called Group 1, where we agreed to buy a new Range Rover Evoque for £51,000. We were offered a £1,500 dealership contribution, three years' warranty and Land Rover roadside assistance. We collected our car on May 9, which is also the date of registration in its logbook. Then about a week later I noticed a post on social media saying that Land Rover had launched a ten-day offer on May 9 which included a £3,000 dealership contribution, four-year warranty, Land Rover assistance, and four years' free servicing. I emailed the dealership to ask if I qualified for this offer, but I was told that I didn't. I said I was disappointed that, as a longstanding customer who has spent more than £100,000 on new Land Rover cars, I had not been told about this offer. I feel that there were several missed opportunities for the staff to alert me to this deal during the sales process. I asked why I hadn't been told about this deal, but the company won't answer my and address supplied • Repairs to our £16k oven will cost £3.6k — Aga says that's normal Your sales contract was entered into at the point you signed the paperwork and not when you collected the car, which is why you didn't qualify for this special offer. But you were upset that you hadn't been told about the forthcoming deal, which would have saved you more than £3,000. Group 1 Automotive UK said: 'We do appreciate that our customer would have liked to have been informed of the upcoming special offer, but at the time he placed his order, the sales team did not have the details of the future offer. Despite this, we will be seeing if there is a further gesture of goodwill we are able to extend given his long-standing custom.' The company offered to extend your warranty by a year and will provide the car's first service at no cost to you, saving you about £1,300, which you were happy with. You said: 'Without your help I don't think we would have been able to arrive at a satisfactory agreement.' • £1,376,097 — the amount Your Money Matters has saved readers so far this year If you have a money problem you would like Katherine Denham to investigate email yourmoneymatters@ Please include a phone number
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Bedale solar farm planned in 'significant' historical area
Critics of a proposed solar farm say the development would sit within an "extremely significant" historic landscape, with evidence of prehistoric, Roman and medieval firm Enviromena has submitted plans to build on farm land between Bedale and Exelby in North residents and consultees have questioned the suitability of the land, urging North Yorkshire Council to ensure an environmental impact report is drawn up.A spokesperson for Historic England said the location of the proposed site, close to the boundary of the Grade II registered park and gardens at Thorp Perrow, was in an area that demanded "a high level of archaeological assessment." "In very simple terms, the application site sits within a landscape shaped by human activity over a considerable time-depth," they said."This proposal would involve structures which could impact upon elements which contribute to the significance and enjoyment of landscapes of historic or cultural importance for many years."The submission has prompted more than 80 objections, according to the Local Democracy Reporting has filed a request to the council for a ruling on whether an environmental impact assessment would be needed with any future planning says the development would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and could play an important role in reducing the decline in critics claim it could have an adverse environmental impact instead, with one member of the public citing its "size, location, and potential cumulative and irreversible impacts on agricultural land".North Yorkshire Local Access Forum said it viewed the application with "grave concern" because the access would be along a narrow public lane frequently used by those without a car, which it said was unsuitable for large construction added: "Two footpaths are running through the site and the public pleasure of these when surrounded by solar panels would be seriously diminished."We realise that the application is to determine the need for a screening assessment at this stage, but would suggest that as the site would not be able to meet the constraints of existing highway law, the application does not proceed further."Two submissions supporting the scheme, which highlight the need for clean energy sources, have also been filed with the council. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- BBC News
Conman bathroom fitter defrauded customers out of thousands
A conman has been sentenced after posing as a professional bathroom fitter and defrauding customers out of thousands of pounds to fund a gambling John Harbottle, of Aiskew near Bedale, pleaded with customers for advance payments, saying he was desperate to pay his bills, but failed to complete the work, police 41-year-old, who admitted fraud by false representation and theft, was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, at York Crown Court on was also ordered to repay his victims a total of £19,231 and carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. A North Yorkshire Police investigation found that Harbottle's requests for advance payments coincided with spikes in his gambling court was told that he used aliases and changed the name of his business to evade bad reviews. 'Kindness exploited' In one case, an 85-year-old woman paid Harbottle £2,500 to refurbish her bathroom. He gave six dates on which he would start the work, but never turned up nor contacted the victim customer paid more than £7,500 for multiple refurbishments in his hotel which were left unfinished or sub-standard. He also pre-purchased bathroom fittings worth more than £5,000 that Harbottle stole and sold on eBay. The victim suffered from lost revenue of about £20,000 as a result.A third victim paid £3,700 for a bathroom that was left damaged and never completed. Investigating officer PC Emily Blackwell said: "Thanks to our financial investigators, we were able to evidence that Harbottle would dishonestly obtain money from the victims, only to fund his gambling activities. "The kindness of the victims was completely exploited as he received additional payments by manipulating those generous enough to believe him."Not only have they suffered financially but they have also suffered psychological distress, losing trust in people and, in some cases, the worry has affected their physical health." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Yorkshire Water begins £1.8m North Yorkshire mains replacement
Work is due to start on the first phase of a £1.8m project to replace water mains between two North Yorkshire villages. Yorkshire Water said they were replacing 3.7 miles (5.9km) of pipes between Bedale Road in Well and Masham Road in Bedale in a bid to improve the network's resilience and the first phase of the project, which began on Tuesday, temporary traffic lights will move along the route as work second phase of the project is set to begin in September, with the entire project expected to be completed in autumn. The scheme forms part of an upgrade to replace almost 150 miles of Yorkshire mains by April 2026. Project manager Nichola Fairbairn said: "We'll be working quickly and doing everything that we can to keep disruption to a minimum whilst we deliver this important work. "We thank everyone in the area for their patience in advance." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Bedale: North Yorkshire solar farm plan opposed by residents' group
Plans for a large solar farm in North Yorkshire have been said the scheme, on land off Lords Lane, between Bedale and Exelby, would create enough renewable energy to power more than 13,800 homes a company Enviromena has submitted a screening application to North Yorkshire Council to find out if extra reports would be needed before a planning application can be lodged.A campaign group formed in opposition to Stell Solar Farm said the solar farm would lead to the loss of good agricultural land. The development would help North Yorkshire Council in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the energy company.A spokesperson for the company said: "Solar farm installations have a small footprint on the land they occupy, leaving considerable scope for biodiversity enhancements."Research has shown that responsibly managed solar farms can play an important role in reducing the decline in biodiversity."They added that existing trees and hedgerows would be protected under the proposals. The Say No To Stell Solar campaign group said the plans could lead to more solar schemes and battery storage plants in the area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting a statement, the group said: "This large solar installation will dominate the rural landscape."At 2.3m (7.5ft) to 3m (10ft) high, there is no way of seeing over, under or through the panels."The views from the public rights of way will be narrowed and hemmed in."They said they feared wildlife would be "displaced and impacted" by the plans. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
