NORTH Yorkshire snooker fans can book a date from this weekend to see the stars in action in York in December.

All the famous players shooting it out in the revived Pot Black tournament being shown on BBC1 on Saturday will be in the city for the Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship and tickets for that huge event go on sale from Saturday morning.

The championship, the fifth year in a row the event has been held in York, is being played at the Barbican Centre from Monday, December 5 to Sunday, December 18.

The Barbican Centre is being opened specially by owners Absolute Leisure in order to stage one of the most prestigious events in York's sports calendar and the second most importing tournament in world snooker.

To launch the ticket sales the Barbican is opening a box office on Saturday only for those who wish to personally buy tickets. The box office will be open from 10am to 4pm, for cash and cheque payments only.

For all other ticket sales there is a UK snooker hotline number on 0870 4000 670. Tickets can also be obtained via the Ticketmaster website on ticketmaster.co.uk.

Tickets for the December 18 final are likely to be sold out within a few hours and there is also normally big demand for tickets to see big stars such as Ronnie O'Sullivan, Paul Hunter and Jimmy White.

The price of tickets ranges from £6.50 for the pre-televised rounds to £24.50 for the evening session of the final. Tickets for the early televised sessions cost £8.50, quarter-finals £11.50 and semi-finals £16.50 per session. Tickets for the early rounds are usually available for purchase on the day and can be bought in person at the Barbican.

The world's top 32 players, plus 16 from the qualifying rounds, come to York and BBC televise the tournament from December 10. The qualifying rounds in Prestatyn start on Monday.

Former world and UK champion O'Sullivan's first match in York starts at noon on Saturday, December 10.

Hunter, who has returned to the snooker circuit after successful treatment for cancer, plays his first match on Wednesday, December 7. He lost in the first round of the Grand Prix at Preston earlier this month, not quite being at his best as the chemotherapy he had for his cancer has left him with less than steady hands and he also gets tired more quickly.

However, these symptoms are likely to disappear in time and Hunter is determined to resume his brilliant career. He plays O'Sullivan on Saturday in the Pot Black quarter-finals at the RAC Club in London.

White, who continues to command a massive following of fans, has his opening match at the Barbican, on December 8.

The defending champion is young Scot Stephen Maguire, who beat O'Sullivan on his way to Barbican glory last year in a 10-1 final trouncing of outsider David Gray.

New world champion Shaun Murphy, the Rotherham-based hot-shot coached by Harrogate's Steve Prest, will make his debut in York this year as in previous tournaments he hasn't qualified for the Barbican stages.

The UK Championship has been given a boost with World Snooker announcing yesterday that they have agreed a new deal with BBC to continue full coverage of the four major tournaments, which include the UK, for the next five years, until May 2011.

Updated: 09:19 Thursday, October 27, 2005