LONDONERS are to get a taste of Yorkshire in a week-long celebration of the region.

Forget pearly queens and cockney rhyming slang, the capital is set to get a lesson in what it means to be from Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Tourist Board is hosting the Yorkshire Week festivities from today until Friday, at the Britain and London Visitor Centre to boost tourism to the area.

Visitors to the centre will be invited to sample the region's food and drink, including traditional Yorkshire puddings baked by local chef Marco Pierre-White. Hazlewood Castle's patron chef John Benson-Smith will be cooking up some Yorkshire dishes for shoppers at John Lewis' Oxford Street store on July 30. There will also a talk by Jim Wight, the son of Alf Wight, author of the much-loved tales of vet James Herriot, as well as information from businesses in York and North Yorkshire.

Updated: 08:42 Tuesday, July 29, 2003