YORK ambassadors have been travelling round the country in an effort to spread the word of two of the city's top cultural attractions.

As the York Roman Festival got under way, secretary Nick Eggleton and organiser Keith Mulhearn donned full Roman dress and "marched" on Leeds and Newcastle to rally support.

Michael Hjort, of the York Festival of Food and Drink, headed south to London to raise awareness of the great food produced in Yorkshire, ahead of next month's culinary celebration in the city.

Mr Eggleton said their Roman expedition had been a huge success, with the north-eastern public giving them a particularly warm welcome.

"We went to Leeds on Sunday morning and marched around the city centre and handed out leaflets, but it was quite quiet.

"But we went to Newcastle on Sunday afternoon and we got a fantastic reaction," he said.

"We got a standing ovation and had crowds of people taking photographs. It all went very well.

"The idea is to get people to use GNER to get to York this weekend. The people were very friendly and could not have been more interested.

"Also, there were people on the train on their way to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and people were talking about coming back down to York for the Roman Festival. It was a very successful trip all round."

Almost everything in the festival is free, and Mr Eggleton urged anyone considering heading along to do so.

"There's going to be lots to see and do for free, for every age group," he said.

"Ninety per cent of this festival is for free."

Meanwhile, yesterday, Melton's Restaurant owner and chef, Michael Hjort, headed to the capital to support the Yorkshire Tourist Board's Yorkshire Week in London.

He was due to appear at John Lewis on Oxford Street today.

Michael said: "I'm delighted to have this opportunity to promote the quality and variety of Yorkshire produce. I will be cooking with Dales lamb and Yorkshire buffalo mozzarella, to illustrate how diverse local produce can be."

Updated: 10:34 Tuesday, August 02, 2005