North Yorkshire Council has launched an investigation to find a precious memorial to a five-year-old Harrogate girl which her distraught mum fears is lost.

Joanne Bolton is convinced that a memorial to her late daughter, who died nearly 30 years ago, has disappeared from Woodfield Community Primary School in Bilton in Harrogate.

Charlotte was just five-years-old when she suddenly and tragically passed away of meningitis on February 7,1997.

The little girl, who was buried in Grove Road cemetery, was much loved not only by her mum and family but by pupils and staff at the school.

Harrogate mum Joanne is determined to have a memorial reinstated to her daughter Charlotte, who was just five-years-old when she suddenly passed away of meningitis in 1997. (Picture contributed)

placeholder image — Harrogate mum Joanne is determined to have a memorial reinstated to her daughter Charlotte, who was just five-years-old when she suddenly passed away of meningitis in 1997. (Picture contributed)

Following Charlotte’s passing, everyone rallied round for a memorial at the school which resulted in a curly hazelnut tree and a poignant brass plaque located at the edge of the infant playground.

There was soon further heartache for Charlotte's family when vandals struck.

But Joanne says the real problems began when alterations were carried out at at Woodfield Community Primary School to the buildings and layout around 2013.

"The first memorial was vandalised and the tree had to be replaced and the plaque was erected onto a Yorkshire stone," said Joanne.

Mum Joanne Bolton's photograph of the memorial to her daughter at Woodfield Community Primary School in Harrogate. (Picture contributed)

"After that there were a lot of alterations at the school and I haven’t been able to find it since.

"It's unbelievable that Charlotte’s memorial seems to have disappeared.

"There doesn’t seem to have been any consideration in all of this to my family or the community who knew my Charlotte.

"I’ve complained about the situation over the years but it has just fallen on deaf ears.”

An old map of Woodfield Community Primary School in Harrogate sent to the Harrogate Advertiser by Joanne Bolton. She believes the memorial to her late daughter can be seen just, as a green dot, towards top, middle. (Picture contributed)

To complicate matters further over the Charlotte Bolton memorial, Woodfield Community Primary School closed down permanently in 2022 after years of falling pupil numbers.

It is scheduled to reopen later this year in a new role as Lighthouse School Harrogate, a specialist school to be run by Lighthouse Education Trust.

But, even as investigations begin into the mystery of the missing memorial, the school remains closed while being remodelled in time for its launch in November when it will welcome up to 80 children who have been diagnosed with autism or have identified communication and interaction needs.

Joanne says she feels let down by North Yorkshire Council’s inability so far to sort out the situation and provide an answer to the question of where the memorial has gone.

North Yorkshire Council told the Harrogate Advertiser it understood how upsetting the uncertainty surrounding its whereabouts must be for Charlotte’s mum and, added, it would be working with the family to help identify the memorial and confirm its likely location.

“We understand how much Charlotte's memorial means to her family and how upsetting the uncertainty surrounding its whereabouts has been,” said North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director of property, Kerry Metcalfe.

"We are actively making enquiries and reviewing historic records to establish what happened to the memorial stone and plaque.

"While these enquiries are ongoing, early information suggests the memorial may have been relocated during works carried out on the site more than a decade ago.

"We are committed to providing Charlotte's family with the answers they deserve.

"We will continue to work with them as our enquiries progress and discuss any possible next steps, including whether a new memorial could be installed should they wish."

The mystery of what has happened to the memorial has also drawn in a former governor at Woodfield Primary School who is now a local councillor.

Paul Haslam, Independent councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge division on North Yorkshire Council, said he had reached out to Joanne to help and that he personally was keen to try and find the precise location of the memorial.

He added that he would also be talking to North Yorkshire Council and the multi-trust academy which will be running the new school when it opens.

In the meantime, almost three decades after the passing of five-year-old Charlotte and all the community did to fundraise to create a memorial to her, her mum feels abandoned and bereft.

"I'm devastated by the whole situation,” said Joanne.

"The opening of the new school at Woodfield has made it all worse for the family.

"It's the 30th anniversary of Charlotte’s passing this coming February and it would mean so much to have her memorial reinstated by then."