DOWNTON Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, comedian Steve Coogan and Yorkshire cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott have all backed the campaign for the remains of Richard III to be buried in York.

A judgement on whether permission for the king’s bones to be reinterred in Leicester, where they were discovered last year, will be made at a later date, but campaigners calling for York to be his final resting place say public talks should be held. An online petition supporting the campaign has been signed by about 1,000 people and a Facebook page has almost 2,500 followers.

Boycott said Richard had “a strong affiliation” to Yorkshire, with Fellowes writing: “How can anybody question that Richard belongs in York?”