SUPERHEROES, sci-fi characters and more than a few people dressed as Doctor Who formed an orderly - but very long - queue outside York Racecourse today.

Thousands of comic fans descended on York for the fourth annual York Unleashed event.

A fundraising Dalek greeted visitors as they entered the building, where the event had taken over every floor with a range of stalls, a virtual reality gaming area, a green screen experience, special guests and more.

Knight Rider's KITT car was also on display in the courtyard outside the venue along with a host of other cinematic vehicles.

And visitors, including those dressed as Ghostbusters, posed for photos in front of a thirty foot tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the film.

Youngsters in Wolverine and Iron Man costumes were fearless when they faced 12-foot tall dinosaur Daisy.

Outdoors, guests were invited to test their Jedi skills with lightsaber training and some brave visitors were showing off their sword fighting abilities.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor of the centre one stall had its own zombie on a chain who tried to take a swipe at passers-by - but missed every time.

And delighted Monsters Inc fans queued up for a hug and a selfie with a lifesize Sully.

On the first floor two Harry Potter delivery owls watched on wide-eyed as youngsters posed for pictures. Fans also queued for autographs from special guests, including sixth and eighth Doctors Colin Baker and Paul McGann, Miriam Margoyles and David Bradley from the Harry Potter franchise, and Hattie Hayridge from Red Dwarf.

Droids from The R2D2 Builders Club UK and Daleks were relegated to the ground floor - as they are notoriously bad with stairs. The convention is run by Unleashed Events and Lee Hall, of the Middlesbrough-based company, says York is usually the biggest, with 5,000 visitors last year.