Tourists who take liberties with the law while taking in York's heritage are being subjected to new swifter justice.

Tired of trying to prosecute visiting offenders who have long since flown home, the county's police and court officials are subjecting them to a fast-track justice that can see them in court within hours of committing an offence.

The scheme has been brought in so they have no chance of packing their suitcases and heading off home before a court day is fixed.

The new laws have already seen one American face arrest, conviction and sentence within two-and-a-half hours after crashing his hire car near Harrogate last Friday.

Police will now quiz tourists on how long they are staying in the county and, if they are due to return home, they are pushed through the system.

Paperwork is prepared within hours, put before the next available magistrates' session and visitors are presented with a sentence to pack along with their souvenirs.

Although the fast-track law can only be used in simple guilty plea cases where the offender agrees to instant justice, a spokesman for North Yorkshire police said it was a valuable legislation.

"This is a very sensible piece of law which has particular relevance in this county. We have a lot of Americans working on the airforce base near Harrogate, where it has been used several times, and many foreign tourists in other parts of the region."

Offences covered include drink-driving, drunk and disorderly behaviour, public order offences, criminal damage and theft.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, welcomed the new system. "We promote York as a safe, friendly place to visit and any initiative which helps us is to be welcomed," she said.

"It shows that we're doing something to encourage visitors to come because York is safe. "One of the things we've found with research is that safety is high up people's agendas, especially overseas visitors."

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