King Richard III is back - sorry, Richard, for a joke in poor taste - on his old stamping ground in York.

The maligned Crookback of Shakespeare's poisonous play received rather better press in York, his favourite city, where the real Richard's reign from 1483 to 1485 is defended to this day.

Mike Bennett and Steve Williams, curators of the Richard III Museum at Monk Bar, have just acquired the model of England's most controversial monarch.

"We're delighted to have Richard III at the museum", says Mike. "Richard actually built the top storey of Monk Bar in 1484, so it's nice to see him back in his spiritual home."

The wax Richard was bought at auction in 1997 by Mr and Mrs Brian Rickaby of Salton, North Yorkshire, after the Friargate Wax Museum closed in 1997. "The auction was mentioned on TV's Look North, and we decided to bid for Richard, as we've always liked him and believed him to be very different from the monster painted by Shakespeare," says Mr Rickaby.

"He has spent the last nine years in the hall of our house, but we're now in the process of moving. We're sad to see him go, but he's going to be in good hands."

Mike was delighted to take up the Rickabys' invitation to purchase Richard. "He's in perfect condition apart from one finger with a little dent, but it looks like the sculptor was a Richard III fan because the model has no hump, although one shoulder is slightly higher than the other!" he says.

ARE you still mentally scarred by the death of Bambi's mum in the ancient Disney cartoon?

Did you lick your lips at the thought of a bacon sandwich all the way through the little piggy film, Babe?

Children living in, or passing through, the little village of Carlton, near Selby, could be in for some real trauma over another beloved Disney character. Grown men cried during the recent cartoon, Finding Nemo, a heartwarming tale of a fish separated from his dad on the Great Barrier Reef.

Some enterprising character at a Carlton fish'n'chip shop has named the establishment Frying Nemo. Now that's as cruel as eating fish fingers.

Anybody out there seen other weird and wacky business names? The Diary would love to hear from you.

Updated: 09:33 Monday, May 08, 2006