The growing trend to deploy the word ‘gate’ as a suffix to a political scandal or news item is noteworthy -‘Partygate’ and ‘Beergate’ (rhymes with ‘Keirgate’) are amongst such neologisms.

Presumably this practice has its roots fifty years ago in ‘Watergate’, although that was an actual place; a building complex. You could have fun concocting others such as ‘Proseccogate’, ‘Nibblesgate’, ‘Hors d’Oeuvresgate’, ‘Downinggate’...

This got me thinking about a more historic and acceptable use of ´gate’ - from the Norse gata or street - in numerous York street names.

Is there a record lurking out there for York to claim. Does York have more ‘-gates’ in street names per square mile than anywhere else in the UK?

I read somewhere that Nottingham can boast sixteen in total. Are there any number-crunching readers that know how many York has? I’ve not counted but surely ‘Jorvik, the City of Gates’, can better Nottingham’s respectable tally?

Derek Reed, Middlethorpe Drive, York