The temperature may have been less than balmy, but it didn't deter TV newsreader Claire Frisbee from taking to her bike to explore what York has to offer - and to give our Proud to be York campaign a timely boost.

Claire, who lives in the city and used to work for BBC Radio York, was in town filming for a new programme, Out And About.

But she took time out to give our campaign a plug - and to urge local York people to open their eyes to the beauty of the city they live in.

She said: "Why go to the continent when you have a cosmopolitan city on your doorstep. If you look at York with the eyes of a tourist, it really is a city to be proud of.

"Often when you live here, you walk around with your head down and don't take the time to look up and around at the buildings and realise this is a city to be proud of around the world."

Claire's mission was to rediscover her home city armed only with a bike, a tenner and a film crew.

Among the attractions she had been to on her low-budget quest were the Bar Convent Museum and the Richard III museum at Monk Bar.

"There's people who live in York who don't know these things are there," said Claire. "The Richard III exhibition, about the Yorkshire King, only cost a pound, but there must be people who've lived here for thirty or forty years and have never been."

The Out and About programme about York will be broadcast on May 7 at 7.30pm. It is one in a series of eight programmes about city breaks in the North.

Also throwing its weight behind our campaign is the University of York.

Giving his support to the Proud To Be York campaign, Vice Chancellor Professor Ron Cooke told the Evening Press: "York is going from strength to strength and the university is proud to have become a vital part of the city's present and future success.

"We are proud to be one of the country's leading universities and now we are fully integrated into the city after the boundary change.

We are one of the city's largest employers and are creating jobs for the next century. Our staff and students contribute to our flourishing city in a myriad of ways, for example through music, community work and raising funds for charity."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.