THEY say Christmas gets earlier every year. It's a perennial moan: the festive season arrives barely before summer is finished.

But an email that arrived in The Press' inbox yesterday - the first working day of 2007 - suggests that all our seasonal celebrations are out-of-kilter.

Easter is three months away, but the egg and bunny-related promotional tie-ins have already begun.

We'll spare you the full details but the press release's title says it all: "A Chocolate Experience to Make Easter Bunnies Jump for Joy."

It's promoting an alternative to the traditional chocolate egg and targets people who are worrying about piling on the pounds.

It says: "If you are feeling a little too old for Easter eggs and worry about all those extra chocoholic pounds that Easter eggs inevitably bring, there's a new, sophisticated alternative from Gourmet Games that will have Easter bunnies jumping for joy!"

The Diary feels that anyone who is already agonising over the prospect of possibly gaining weight in three months time - just days after the annual Yuletide excess - should really get things into perspective.

  • YORK is not known for its celebrity spotting potential. Unlike other cities, you stand little chance of bumping into a Madonna, Brad and Angelina, a famous footballer or their wife.

However, famous faces can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Spotted in York's City Screen, in Coney Street, last week: actor Derek Thompson, alias long-serving doctor Charlie Fairhead in BBC hospital drama Casualty.

Mr Thompson was wrapped up in a woolly scarf and a baseball cap, trying to look unassuming, while texting on his mobile.

  • AND no sooner is there news of one famous face, than an ever more notable one looms into view. Where do you think the new James Bond spent his Christmas sojourn?

The Diary can reveal that Casino Royale star Daniel Craig, above, the hottest ticket in British cinema, was spotted in North Yorkshire enjoying the fine hospitality of the eternally fashionable Blue Lion at East Witton.

Craig was the house guest of Jay Jopling, the London art dealer with Damian Hirst and Gilbert & George on his books, who was back home on his old Yorkshire soil for the festivities.