MAN Alive - number five - this is the scene today as demolition work gets underway at York's landmark Mecca bingo site in Fishergate.

It is the end of an ear for bingo lovers - as well as local history buffs.

The car park of the bingo hall - which only opened in 2003 - was once the location of York's Rialto, where The Beatles famously played four times in 1963.

During excavations of the car park a few months ago, the original tiles of the Rialto dancefloor were temporarily exposed.

The bingo hall is being cleared to make way for 276 student flats.

City of York Council gave planning approval in February for the brownfield site.

Site owners York-based property firms Grantside and North Star have appointed Leeds-based Demolition Services Ltd to dismantle the building to allow Olympian Homes to build the flats.

The demolition work is expected to take 15 weeks and an archaeological dig will take place before the scheme can be built.

It includes 276 student bedrooms, landscaping and extensive bicycle parking.

To celebrate the previous heritage on the site, the new building will be called Rialto House.

The student accommodation is expected to have its first residents living there in September 2024.