HEATWAVE sun seekers were soaking up the rays on Scarborough's South Bay as this stretch of coastline received an award for its cleanliness.

Excellent standards continued at beaches along the North Yorkshire coast as Seaside Awards were granted to Staithes, Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby West Cliff, Scarborough North and South Bays, Filey and Cayton by ENCAMS, organisers of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

In East Yorkshire, Bridlington North and South also won the awards.

The accolade allows them to fly blue and yellow flags signifying clean sands and facilities.

It comes just in time for what is expected to be a bumper tourist weekend across the region.

Good weather forecasts mean that the first bank holiday since Christmas is predicted to bring crowds of people to York, the coast and the North York Moors.

The first travellers were expected to set out today, with AA Roadwatch spokeswoman Denise Raven warning that the major routes will be busy. She said: "From lunchtime today the major routes will start getting busy, while on Friday and Saturday we can expect local roads to see a lot of traffic.

"There are no roadworks in the region that will cause problems, but the sheer volume of traffic will create queues. If the weather holds up, we are expecting up to 18 million cars out and about across the country."

Yesterday saw temperatures among the highest recorded for April, and the heatwave was expected to continue today.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 24 degrees, according to PA WeatherCentre.

But it is expected that the heat will be turned down tomorrow, for which the forecast is dry, but cooler, with temperatures of about 20 degrees.

The decline will then continue.

"People should make the most of the hot weather as it will be cooler by Saturday and much more cloudy by Sunday and Monday," said a WeatherCentre spokeswoman.

Police in North Yorkshire today issued a warning to residents to be on guard for sneak thieves during the hot weather.

A spate of sneak-in burglaries, where thieves took advantage of open windows and doors, was being investigated by the force, with the South Bank and Fulford areas of York worst hit.

Jane Mowat, director of the Safer York Partnership, said: "It might seem hard to believe that residents still leave doors unlocked and windows open, but the reality is that there are still many who drop their guard and suffer the consequences."

Updated: 10:07 Thursday, April 17, 2003