A NEW soap opera starts in Yorkshire on Tuesday - Yorkshire Day - when the Evening Press Internet site begins the story of YorkGate.

This cyber soap opera is set in the very heart of this historic city in an imaginary street called YorkGate. It is a tale of ordinary York folk, told with humour against a backdrop of specially-commissioned cartoon drawings of the street and its larger-than-life characters.

Let the mysterious Woman Who Knows lead you down the street, where you will meet characters such as caf owner Martha Martino, her shiftless husband Tony and their dreamer son, Terry, divorcee Fiona Markham, council leader Frank Rose and private eye Derek Rain, whose motto is: "Nothing Too Secret. Nothing We Won't Look Into."

To accompany the launch of the Evening Press's e-soap on the paper's award-winning website - www.thisisyork.co.uk - the first episode will be printed in Tuesday's paper.

YorkGate, which has been brought to life by Evening Press columnist Julian Cole, is thought to be the first e-soap in the country to be created by a local newspaper.

Evening Press editor Liz Page said: "Our website, This Is York, is an ideal platform for a local soap. We have a team of writers who know York and its people and who can create an online soap that is truly local.

"We shall be asking the people of York - and further afield - what they think of the story so far, and how they think is should be developed. It is their soap and we want them to be involved."

YorkGate will be launched Tuesday, August 1, with new episodes every Tuesday and Saturday. Log on to www.thisisyork.co.uk and click on the YorkGate icon.

features@ycp.co.uk