Volunteer officer injured during bed race attack

Teams raced around Knaresborough with their decorated beds on Saturday

A volunteer police officer was left with head injuries after being assaulted during Knaresborough's annual bed racing event.

North Yorkshire Police said one of its special constables was attacked near SO! Bar & Eats and the bus station in Fisher Street at about 16:30 BST on Saturday.

An individual has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker, along with using abusive words and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Police described it as an "isolated incident" during an otherwise successful event.

Posting about the incident in a Harrogate policing Facebook group, Insp Holly Nicholls said the force took "any assault very seriously".

"I know that this was an upsetting experience for those that witnessed it," she said.

The officer, who had volunteered during the event, spent the rest of the weekend recovering at home after needing four stitches for the head wound.

It is thought about 30,000 people attended the Great Knaresborough Bed Race on Saturday.

The event, which sees teams race against each other with decorated beds, has been held on the second Saturday in June since 1966 - apart from in 2020 and 2021.