'ELLO, 'ello, 'ello, what's going on 'ere then?

Our picture shows two fellas in Red Boat garb balancing precariously on their vessel and grabbing something from the Bonding Warehouse balcony.

The strange sight was captured on camera by the Diary's man in the field, Dale Minks, at the end of last month.

He told us the object being snaffled was an alabaster bust resembling a Greek or Roman god.

After he took the picture, the pair sailed off to the other side of the Ouse to the moorings of Yorkboat, which owns the Red Boat hire business.

It looks a bit fishy. But the Diary is delighted to report that this was a civic-spirited act.

Louisa Lyon, Yorkboat marketing co-ordinator, revealed that the pair, Billy Parkinson and Dan Winter, were trying to clear up some of the debris left after the squatters were evicted from the Bonding Warehouse.

"It had looked really untidy and messy. They're directly opposite it. That was one of the things left there and they just removed it."

Good work Dan and Billy.

Two questions. Is this the first waterborne act of York Pride? And will we see a Red Boat with a Greek god figurehead next summer?

MORE tributes are flooding in to our luxurious Walmgate offices about the new-look Evening Press.

This from regular Diary contributors Newton & Ridley, the Osbaldwick great crested newts: "It is so much easier to read and manage with our short little feet. However a waterproof version for amphibians would be much appreciated."

Their third Letter From Amphibia will be published shortly.

Shaun Collinge, reclusive landlord of The Maltings, Tanners Moat, York, is ambivalent about the change, however.

For 12 years he has displayed the front and back page of that day's Evening Press in specially-built glazed display cases in the pub toilets.

Now the smaller pages "look lost" inside the broadsheet frames.

Despite this, he can see the advantages.

"In all this praise for your new Evening Press, there's one thing that has been missed," he said. "Not one person has said it's a lot more easy to manage when you're having a poo."

Thanks for putting that right, Shaun.

Updated: 11:53 Monday, September 13, 2004