ACTION, suspense and entertainment.

A fantastic trio - but this "gripping" photograph unfortunately has none of these three things. Every day the Evening Press is bombarded with press releases from PR companies seeking a bit of publicity.

This effort raised a few laughs in the newsroom. Sent out by Wedge Group Galvanising, it relates how the company installed crowd control barriers in York Racecourse's Old Silver Ring Stand for Royal Ascot at York.

If you jog your memories, you will realise that magnificent week of racing was held in June - Wedge Group got round to sending out the release on... August 8. Talk about trailing in last in the 3.45.

Then there's the picture.

The Diary can't be sure, but there's nothing quite like a shot of barriers to get the pulse racing. At least it's in focus.

AND you always thought gentleman preferred blondes. New research into dating habits reveals that York men have shunned golden locks and turned to the dark side.

The survey, by internet portal Lycos, reveals that around half of city men prefer a brunette partner - leaving their blonde and peroxide colleagues trailing well down the list at 20 per cent. So, as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and Madonna may be, York men are more likely to get themselves into a fluster over Angelina Jolie and Catherine Zeta Jones.

Redheads still fire up the passions of a quarter of local lads.

York men are also anti-waif with 90 per cent saying they wouldn't go for a super-thin woman. In fact, only one in ten favoured an "athletic physique".

Some things, though, never change: men are still expected to change tyres and women are still expected to be a whiz in the kitchen.

BLINDINGLY obvious statement of the week: the allergy warning on Tesco's milk. It says: May contain milk.

EAGLE-eyed diary readers will have noticed the feverish activity taking place on a building site close to the Monk Bar Hotel.

For many months, the site for new York flats lay empty when work stopped. Diary spies have informed us that tools were laid down after the final resting place of a Roman resident was discovered.

But the workers are back and the flats are now coming on apace.

The company behind the scheme? Graves Construction.

Updated: 10:59 Thursday, August 11, 2005