PLANS are being made for a Bonfire Night celebration which organisers say will be the biggest in York’s history.

Rat Race Adventure Sports, which runs sporting and fitness events and activities, is making preparations for a fireworks festival alongside a five-kilometre run at Knavesmire on November 5, with full details set to be revealed soon.

The event - called ‘Gunpowder Plod’ - is being backed by City of York Council and means a major publicly-backed Bonfire Night show will be staged in Guy Fawkes' home city for the first time in seven years. Organisers have promised an “epic display” alongside “a brand new and quite extraordinary sporting event”.

Jim Mee, of Rat Race Adventure Sports, said: “We've been working very closely with City of York Council, and we've got an incredibly exciting event in prospect.

“The full details are still under wraps, but I can promise York has never seen anything like it before."

He said more information would be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The last civic November 5 fireworks display in York was in 2005, when details of its location - in the grounds of Fawkes' former school, St Peter’s - were not revealed until the night itself, leading to city-centre traffic chaos and complaints that huge numbers of people were unable to see the event.

The lack of a civic event to mark November 5 in York in the years since was reported by newspapers around the world. Clifford’s Tower had previously been the traditional home for York fireworks displays before police safety concerns led to the events being switched to Knavesmire, but these were scrapped by the council because of the costs involved.

Coun Sonja Crisp, the council's cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, said: "As the birthplace of Guy Fawkes, we pledged last year that York would commemorate November 5, 2012, in style.

"We've been working hard with partners to ensure this happens, and it's going to be a night to remember."