YORK residents took advantage of free admission to check out the city’s tourist attractions.

During York Residents Festival, which started on Saturday and ran over the weekend, more than 50 of the city’s tourist attractions, including museums and tours, offered free or discounted entry to residents who produced a valid YorkCard. About 800 people visited the Jorvik Viking Centre, in Coppergate, during Saturday and yesterday – and that was just those who visited the attraction for free.

A spokesman said that, on Saturday, people had been queuing for up to an hour-and- a-half to gain entrance to the centre, in Coppergate.

But yesterday, residents had been kept waiting no longer than about 45 minutes.

Attractions opening their doors with free admission over the course of the festival include: Barley Hall, DIG, the Jorvik Viking Centre, the Richard III Museum, Micklegate Bar Museum, Bedern Hall, Haunted, the Merchant Taylor’s Hall, Murton Park, the National Railway Museum, the Regimental Museum, the Roman Bath Museum, the Mansion House, York City Art Gallery, York Castle Museum, the Yorkshire Museum and York Dungeon.