THE YORK BRIEF ⏰ Monday, December 22nd, 2025

Morning York 👋
Three days to Christmas and the city’s in full festive mode - but beneath the twinkling lights, there’s travel disruption, odd river sights, crime headlines, and a footballing masterclass keeping spirits high. Here’s what’s shaping York today.

🌤️ Weather Update

Bit of a mixed bag weather-wise today with temperatures hovering around 10°C/7°C – pretty mild for this time of year, which makes tackling those last-minute Christmas errands a bit easier. Three days till Christmas and our city’s buzzing with festive energy, though there are a few stories that might raise an eyebrow or two. Let’s dive in! MET Office

📰 NEWS

🚧 Station area bracing for New Year roadworks disruption - If you’re planning any trips near York Railway Station in January, you’ll want to mark this on your calendar. Leeman Road and Cinder Street are set to close from 7:30pm on Friday, January 9th right through till 6am on Monday, January 19th for essential infrastructure work. City of York Council says the works will only take place overnight – from Friday evening to Monday morning each week during that period – to keep disruption to a minimum. Gazette & Herald | Network Rail

♿ New disabled parking bay coming to York Minster – but timing raises questions - Blue Badge holders are getting a new temporary parking bay built right in Duncombe Place near York Minster, which is great news for accessibility. The catch? Roadworks run from Tuesday, December 23rd – yes, that’s tomorrow, right before Christmas – through Friday, March 6th. Council officials say the work could finish earlier if completed ahead of schedule, and traffic signs will indicate the extent of restrictions during the works period. All other vehicles will be prohibited from stopping, waiting or loading in the area, and offending vehicles may be towed away. Emergency service access won’t be affected, at least. City of York Council.

📮 Royal Mail’s Christmas timing leaves residents fuming - Nothing says “festive cheer” quite like finding your local postbox sealed up with an “out of service” sign during the Christmas rush, right? Mike Laycock, 87, from Fishergate, discovered this the hard way when he tried to post his Christmas cards at the Broadway postbox in Fulford, only to find it had been sealed off. Royal Mail is rolling out 3,500 solar-powered “postboxes of the future” that’ll let customers send shoebox-sized parcels for the first time – it’s their biggest redesign in 175 years. York Press

🌊 That mysterious foam on the River Ouse? It’s natural, says Environment Agency - If you’ve spotted thick, creamy white foam “bucketing past” in the River Ouse near New Walk, you’re not imagining things. Geoff Page, a 46-year-old lecturer who’s lived by the river for five years, said he’d never seen anything like the rancid-smelling foam coming down in “thick creamy waves.” Turns out, there’s a scientific explanation: the Environment Agency says it’s naturally occurring foam created when molecules act as “surfactants,” interfering with water’s surface tension and allowing air and water to mix. These natural surfactants – usually fatty acids – are released from decaying organic material. York Press

🎉 Fulprint celebrates four decades of York printing excellence - Here’s some good news for a change! Fulprint, one of York’s longest-established independent print specialists, is marking 40 years in business – a proper milestone that reflects decades of craft, creativity, and commitment to our city’s business landscape. York Mix

🚆 Christmas travel chaos: No trains on Christmas or Boxing Day, major disruption ahead - Planning to travel by train over the festive period? You’ll need to factor in some significant changes. Northern and TransPennine Express services will end earlier than usual on Christmas Eve, with no trains running at all on Christmas Day or Boxing Day – that’s the annual Christmas shutdown of the UK rail network. But here’s the bigger headache: the network between Leeds and York will face serious disruption from Saturday, December 27th right through to Sunday, January 26th due to planned improvement works as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. Rail replacement buses will run between Leeds, York and Selby from December 27th till 11:30am on Monday, December 29th, and there’ll be no York to Sheffield services during that period. ITVX | York Press

🧸 Trading standards seize dangerous fake toys in Scarborough and Whitby - Parents doing last-minute Christmas shopping need to be extra vigilant after North Yorkshire Council’s trading standards team seized a haul of counterfeit Labubu dolls at retail premises in Scarborough and Whitby. These collectible toys are massively popular worldwide, which has led to a surge in counterfeiting.

🚨 CRIME

⚖️ DPD warehouse worker caught stealing parcels within first month on job - Talk about a short-lived career. Charlie Boardman, 27, from Acomb, lasted just four weeks at DPD’s Poppleton depot before he was caught stealing an iPhone and coat from parcels he was supposed to be repacking. York magistrates heard he’d been employed through an agency to repack damaged parcels in the warehouse, but management got suspicious when items started going missing. Yahoo News UK

⚠️ Former York soldier gets suspended sentence for online child sex offences - A man who was based in York with an “exemplary” military career has lost everything after arranging online sexual offences involving a child and possessing indecent images. The soldier, formerly of Fulford, met a woman on the dating app Bumble, and after normal chat, suggested moving to WhatsApp. Within a couple of days, he started talking in a sexual way that shocked the woman – but she continued chatting to collect evidence. York Press

🚴 Police seize illegally modified e-bike capable of 104mph - This one’s genuinely shocking. York police seized an e-bike in Clifton that had been illegally modified to reach a top speed of 103.8mph – nearly seven times the legal limit. To put that in perspective, the legal limit for an e-bike is just 15.5mph, and the motor must always cut out and be pedal-assisted, which this one wasn’t. York Mix

🎨 COMMUNITY

🎄 Mount School pupils spread Christmas cheer across York - There’s something truly special about hearing young voices singing carols this time of year. Talented pupils from The Mount School in Dalton Terrace have been out and about spreading festive joy across our city, performing at York Hospital, The Ivy restaurant, care homes, and Rufforth Church. Over the years, The Mount has made this a beautiful tradition – their chamber choir, senior choir, orchestra, and award-winning string quartet perform classic hymns, songs from around the world in other languages, and traditional classical pieces for strings, plus self-composed pieces since pupils study composition in school. Mount School York

“We’re very proud of the high standard of Music we produce, especially for a smaller school, and we have some very talented music scholars if you know a girl who might want to apply.

👶 Remember these York Christmas babies? We’d love to see them now - Christmas Day arrivals are extra special, and The Press has dug through the archives to find treasured first photos of York’s Christmas Day babies dating back to the late 1990s. No doubt tackling the turkey had to be put on hold for some soon-to-be parents who were taken by surprise by their festive delivery! Where are they now? What memories do their families have of their arrival? They’d love to compare Christmas Day birthday photos from then and now. If you’re featured or know someone who is, email nadia.jeffersonbrown@newsquest.co.uk.

🏃 SPORT

⚽ Pearce’s perfect hat-trick keeps York City’s promotion dream alive - Santa came early to the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday as Ollie Pearce scored a first-half hat-trick to help York City demolish bottom club Truro City 4-0. The result extends City’s incredible winning streak to seven consecutive National League victories and keeps them firmly in the promotion hunt. Salisbury Journal

🍽️ FOOD & DRINK

🦊 The Fox Inn review: Village pub makes impressive comeback after closure - Just weeks after reopening, The Fox Inn in Stockton on the Forest has had a makeover worth talking about. This village pub off the A64, northeast of York, changed hands after being closed for some time – two villagers bought the venue in June and are now leasing it to Tom Brown, a landlord who also runs the Knapton Lion and the Lord Nelson at Nether Poppleton. Gazette and Herald

That's your York wrapped up for Monday morning – a city that's somehow managing to juggle Christmas preparations, promotion-chasing football, illegal e-bikes hitting motorway speeds, and mysterious river foam all at once. Classic York, really.

We'll be back tomorrow with more stories from around our city.