Anyone who witnessed the huge blaze at Airedale International Air Conditioning in September must surely have feared for the company’s future and for the jobs of its staff.

As more than 100 firefighters fought the blaze and thick black smoke could be seen for miles around it seemed like a dark day indeed for the Rawdon company.

But management vowed it would come back stronger than ever – and true to their word they are forging ahead despite the setback.

Not only have bosses and staff pulled out all the stops to keep the company at the forefront of its field – this week Airedale also announced that it had set up an office in Moscow.

The resolve and commitment shown by all involved have been remarkable.

Where many companies would have failed in the face of such odds Airedale has not just kept going but has continued to expand its operations.

It is a true success story.

Police station manoeuverings curious indeed

West Yorkshire Police’s announcement this week that it is to maintain, and indeed likely consolidate, its position at Otley Police Station is a welcome one.

But the manoeuvrings that led to that statement from chief superintendent Paul Money even being issued are curious, to say the least.

It turns out that the ‘potential public sector tenant’ for Otley Civic Centre that the Town Council mentioned some months ago was indeed the Neighbourhood Policing Team.

As it transpires, though, those talks between the police, Leeds City Council (which owns the civic centre) and the town council came to nothing so, perhaps unsurprisingly, were never publicised – until now.

MP Greg Mulholland essentially flushed out the police’s statement by deciding to make the fact they had been holding discussions about a potential move public, as he blasted the council for holding ‘secret talks’.

Mr Mulholland’s assertion that residents should be consulted about any significant change to policing in Otley is, of course, one we could all easily subscribe to.

But it is harder to understand why he chose to make such an issue of these confidential negotiations when, in fact, they led to precisely no change whatsoever.