YORK'S Bar Convent has welcomed the 3,000th visitor to its new Living Heritage Centre Exhibition.

The attraction, officially launched last October by TV's Hotel Inspector, Alex Polizzi, was built as part of a two million pound redevelopment project at the Grade 1 listed building in Blossom Street, which is still home to a community of Sisters.

It tells the story of the oldest convent in England, which operated in secret for hundreds of years, and the remarkable women behind it.

The 3,000th visitor, Sylvia Gratton, from Sydney in Australia, who is staying at the Bar Convent Guest House, was presented with a goodie-bag by audience development manager Jerry Ibbotson.

He said: “This is quite an achievement, especially given the blow dealt to York’s tourism trade by the Boxing Day floods. We’ve been building our visitor numbers month-on-month and the Exhibition’s reputation has been growing and growing. In the first six months since going live, we’ve attracted more people than our old museum did in a whole year.”