ABOUT 120 dealers from all over Britain came to the country’s biggest one-day book fair at York Racecourse on Saturday.

The event in the Knavesmire Suite attracted about 1,000 customers, ranging from local residents to others who had travelled to York by train and taken a special shuttle bus from the station to get the racecourse.

Book fair manager Arthur Cunningham said the dealers came from as far away as the south coast and the north of Scotland, bringing with them perhaps 50,000 books.

“They sold old books and new books, children’s books and adults,” he said.

“Some books dated back as far as the 17th and 18th century.”