THE announcement of a range of possible solutions to the long-standing headache caused by Low Gates level crossing in Northallerton are to be warmly welcomed.

While some of them appear – and in particular the suggestion of moving the railway line – to have little prospect of being funded, with backing from the likes of MP Rishi Sunak and council leader Carl Les, other proposals could be realised.

It will be interesting to see which possible scheme residents and traders favour.

With the impending expansion of the county town and the North Northallerton estate, the momentum on this project needs to be maintained.

IF WE THOUGHT we were a world away from the kind of fear-mongering, divisive rhetoric that got Trump elected, recent leaflets delivered to homes in Stokesley and Great Ayton made many residents feel they weren’t.

The leaflets falsely claimed refugees were being rehomed in Stokesley and Great Ayton, urged people to campaign against a local councillor for supporting the move and continued with anti-Muslim sentiment.

It seems most people put the leaflets straight in the bin, but others felt intimidated by the writing, which gave an impression there was a ground-swell of such sentiment in their community. The fact the leaflets were hand-delivered through people’s letter boxes must have added to this uneasiness.

But it’s worth bringing some perspective to the situation – they may have been delivered to neighbourhoods across the district, but they were the personal ramblings of one man.

In some cases the leaflet had the opposite effect, with people offering support to refugees rehomed in the district.

Stokesley Parish Councillor Bryn Griffith pointed out he thought the leaflets were designed to stir up racial hatred that isn’t there.