COR lumme! It was worth a tea's-up knees-up by these pearly kings and queens to promote the new British Airways service from Yorkshire to Gatwick Airport.

The service which began on Sunday is being operated by BA's wholly-owned subsidiary, British Airways CitiExpress, between the county's main airport, Leeds-Bradford, and London Gatwick's North terminal.

It will entail a total of 38 flights a week between the two destinations with return fares starting from £100, including taxes, fees and charges.

Mike Bathgate, general manager for British Airways CitiExpress, said: "There are very strong links between Yorkshire and the south of London and Sussex and I am sure businesses will appreciate the time savings that can be gained.

"We are also providing a greater choice of flights for Yorkshire travellers visiting central London and the new services will offer onward connections to more than 100 destinations worldwide from London Gatwick."

There will be three flights each weekday and two services a day at weekends from Leeds Bradford to Gatwick. Flights will be on a 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft and take 75 minutes.