A WAYWARD sign has been puzzling York celebrity chef Jennie Cook.

Jennie, who runs Cook's Guest House on Bishopthorpe Road, hadn't noticed the large white sign, which is usually left outside the guest house to advertise vacancies, had gone missing until a friend pointed out that it was no longer there.

She phoned The Press on Tuesday to inform us that the sign had gone missing and asked us to appeal to our readers in case someone knew of its whereabouts.

But on Wednesday she had a phone call from the owners of a fruit and veg shop in Heslington, who said they had found the large sign in their bin.

Jenny, who is originally from Malaysia and has appeared on a variety of national television programmes demonstrating Malaysian cookery, said: "I just don't understand why anyone would want to take the sign in the first place.

"It's big and would be too heavy for one person to carry all that way - so how has it managed to travel a mile across the city and ended up in someone's bin.

"It doesn't make sense and I'd really like to find out what happened to it." Anyone who knows what may have happened to the roving object should email the Diary or write to us at the usual address.

Dungeon's pumpkin poser

HALLOWE'EN visitors to the York Dungeon are being urged to bring their own pumpkins following a nationwide shortage of the spooky fruit.

The poor summer this year has meant that many pumpkin crops have failed, with the survivors left underweight and green in colour.

As a result, the Dungeon is having real problems finding sufficiently healthy pumpkins for the decoration of their Haunted Hallowe'en festival.

Bosses at the Market Street attraction are so desperate for proper sized pumpkins that they have offered free entry to anyone who brings along an orange Jack O'lantern bigger than a standard football.

"We always go a bit crazy with pumpkins at Hallowe'en but this year we've managed to get our hands on so few that we're having to use other decorations like fake skulls instead," said Dungeon manager Helen Douglas. "Those we have got are not as healthy and so go off after a few days, leaving us back at square one.

"That's why we're appealing to the public to help us out by bringing decent sized pumpkins - with those that make the grade getting their owners free admission."