BRAVE Mike Tyson fanatic James Carr plans to undress in front of his fearsome hero when he comes to York next month.

The 26-year-old, from Lord Mayor's Walk, says he will take his shirt off to show 'Iron' Mike a tattoo he has of him on his back.

We recently reported that history buff Tyson was set to come to York on a sightseeing trip to take in the tourist sights, including Clifford's Tower and the Minster, as part of a two-day visit to Yorkshire.

He will be driven to York in a limousine next month by Doncaster-based superfan Andy Booker, who persuaded him to fly to the UK to visit his home.

James said: "I've liked Tyson all of my life.

"He's the last world champion that actually meant anything.

"I've followed his career since I was eight or nine, listening to the fights on the radio. All I want is the chance to shake Mike Tyson's hand and show him my tattoo."

A word of advice James: Tell Mike you plan to take your clothes before doing so.

You don't want to make him angry.

SAD news from Selby. The plucky former winding tower at Riccall Mine is no more.

The stalwart structure was briefly dubbed the Leaning Tower of Riccall after a demolition attempt last month left it largely intact - but perched at a precarious 45-degree angle.

We now hear that workmen have moved in, and the once-defiant building is nothing more than a broken pile of rubble.

Last month the Evening Press described how the explosive charges blew up a corner of the 22-year-old tower, leaving the rest of the structure in one piece, but tilted over.

Bosses at UK Coal now tell us that this was all part of the plan.

"The demolition was a success," said a company spokesman. "The idea of the charges was not to blow the tower up, but to bring it close enough to the ground so men in long-reach vehicles could reach the top and dismantle it bit by bit."

But then they would say that, wouldn't they?

It's an anxious moment when you turn up at a new dental surgery, especially after not having had a check-up for a couple of years.

But anxiety turned to terror as Evening Press deputy editor Bill Hearld sat waiting his turn, alone, in the waiting room of a city centre dentist.

From the next room he could hear a frightening assortment of machinery which he'd never heard at any of his former toothpullers.

The sound of a heavy-duty drill was deafening, and occasionally there was a loud, deep grinding noise as if someone was ripping through concrete rather than a decayed molar.

The machinery was certainly loud enough to drown out the screams of patients in agony.

Surely, he thought, equipment has not changed that much since he'd last had treatment.

By the time Hearld was called through to take his turn in the chair, we hear he was shaking with fear. Then the nice, lady dental surgeon dropped her mask and announced: "Sorry about the noise. We've got the builders in. It's driving us crazy."

Well that's all right, then.

Updated: 10:38 Friday, October 28, 2005