AN AWARD-WINNING Scarborough businessman is frying high after one of his fish and chip shops was named the best in the UK.

Matthew Silk, twice winner of the Scarborough Evening News Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition, is celebrating after Fish and Chips at 149 in Bridlington, which he runs with business partner Tracy Poskitt, battered the opposition at the 23rd annual National Fish and Chip Awards.

Mr Silk opened his first chippy in Newlands in 1997 before moving to Crossgates in 2004 and opening his shop there. He is also a director of Silks in Castle Road, which opened in 2008.

Viat Scarborough Evening News

SCARBOROUGH’S 2011 tourism season has been given a boost as £10 million is pumped in to Welcome to Yorkshire.

The tourist board has secured the funding from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, which is set to close in March 2012.

Bosses at Welcome to Yorkshire say the investment means the continuation of high impact marketing campaign and the development of festivals and events as well as support for the many thousands of tourism businesses across the county to develop their product and skills.

It will also be used by Welcome to Yorkshire to help develop a new funding model beyond 2012, after Yorkshire Forward is disbanded.

Scarborough Council’s tourism manager Janet Deacon, who has recently been appointed an area director for Welcome to Yorkshire, explains what the funding will mean for Scarborough.

She said: “It is fantastic news for Scarborough that the funding has been secured as it will allow Welcome to Yorkshire to continue to undertake the large campaigns to attract people to Scarborough. It also means Scarborough will continue to be promoted national and internationally, along with the rest of Yorkshire, as a place to visit.”

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

THE Rotary Club of Scarborough is appealing for young footballers to join a nationwide campaign to get as many pairs of old boots as possible to send to Africa.

It is hoped that the initiative will help youngsters in Africa to get as much enjoyment from the game as children in the UK.

A club spokesman said: “Please save your old boots. This will be a wonderful opportunity for these African children to own a pair of football boots like you. This will also help to improve these children’s health in these countries.

“So if you got a new pair of boots for Christmas remember the children not so lucky as you.”

Old and unwanted pairs of football boots can be taken to the YMCA in St Thomas Street and handed into reception for attention of The Rotary Club of Scarborough.

The appeal is being sponsored by Stoneacre/Polar Ford and by Sir Richard Branson – who will fly the boots to Africa free of charge.

Via Scarborough Evening News

SCARBOROUGH is bracing itself for the return of winter’s icy grip tomorrow with weather forecasters predicting more snow.

Nick West, North Yorkshire County Council’s area manager for highways and transportation, said that according to a recent forecast it was likely to turn colder tonight and early tomorrow morning.

He added: “A band of rain will cross the region but it will turn to snow as it clears away, mainly, but not exclusively, over higher ground giving a covering of snow in places but also some very icy conditions.

Read more at ScarboroughEveningNews.co.uk

ROYAL Albert Drive and Marine Drive were a sea of red and white as hundreds of festive Santas took part in a fundraising event for St Catherine’s Hospice yesterday.

This year’s Santa Dash was turned into a stroll – because of safety concerns over the wet conditions – but a few brave souls ran towards the finish line.

The event was officially started by mayor Cllr Hazel Lynskey. It began at the Sands Complex at 11am and the route covered the 1.5 miles to the Toll House.

Sue Sanderson, who originally left Scarborough in 1981, was dressed as an elf and had travelled all the way from Lyons in France to take part. She said: “We were coming to see our son who studies in Hull. It’s such a good charity that we thought we’d like to do it. We were just worried about the snow on the way up.”

Most of the entrants were dressed as Father Christmas but Julie Jackson, from Newby, was a little different because she was dressed as a Christmas Tree. She said she was worried that passing dogs might take a shine to her.

Read more at ScarboroughEveningNews.co.uk

THE ANNUAL Castle Ward Christmas lights competition is underway.

Residents in the area have until Friday to enter the competition, ahead of independent judging, which will take place on December 20.

The competition is one of the most popular in the Scarborough area, with the historic old town lighting up every year thanks to the efforts of residents.

Prizes will be given for the best decorated street window, best decorated house or property, best decorated street and best decorated block.

Cash prizes and certificates are on offer to the winners, with the competition once again being sponsored by Yorkshire Coast Homes.

Read more at ScarboroughEveningNews.co.uk

THERE have been 11 expressions of interest in developing a new leisure village in Scarborough.

Scarborough Council placed a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union in September which marked the start of the process to identify the preferred developer for the project.

Once complete the leisure village will include a community football ground and leisure facilities.

A council spokesman said the procurement process was being conducted in accordance with official procedures.

He added: “The brief prepared by the council for seeking expressions of interest from potential private sector developers is to design and construct a new football ground, to a standard equivalent to Football Association Grade C, and new leisure facilities on the site of the former Weaponness park and ride facility in the southern area of the town.

“The council does not have any capital monies to contribute to the project, 
so the council’s contribution will be its land.

“In return for the construction of the facilities, the council could offer either the freehold or leasehold of up to four of its sites at Filey Road, Seamer Road, part of Weaponness and Ryndle Crescent to a developer for development of whatever suitable uses they can obtain through the formal planning process.”

He added that the council reserved the right to withdraw any sites and additionally ask for capital receipts if there was a substantial imbalance between the cost of the leisure centre and the other developed sites.

The spokesman said: “As expected, the project has generated a lot of interest and the council can confirm that it has received 11 formal expression of interest from organisations which completed and returned the pre-qualification documents.

“These pre-qualification submissions will be analysed and recommendations for a long list of a maximum six bidders will be reported to the cabinet member to be accepted for selection to participate in the next competitive dialogue stage.”

During the initial stages the selected six bidders would submit outline proposals and from these a shortlist of three bidders would be invited to submit detailed solutions and final tenders.

“All submissions will be analysed against a pre-established combination of cost, quality and conditionality criteria,” he said.

It is expected that the whole process, through to completion of construction, should take about three years with football returning to Scarborough in time for the 2014 to 2015 season.

Via Scarborough Evening News

Better for you than a bowl of muesli, apparently

1.Coastguards in Falmouth,Cornwall, picked up a distress signal call from a ship named the MV Titanic in the Caribbean. Three people were on the ship which was taking on water and suffering from electrical failure.

2. Chilli grower Woody Woods, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, is laying claim to the world's hottest variety of pepper. Tests carried out by Warwick University rate the Infinity chilli at 1,067,286 on the Scoville Scale, which is used to measure the heat of peppers - hotter than the Bhut Jolokia variety which is used for crowd control by the Indian Army.

3. Tucking into a fried breakfast of sausages, eggs, bacon, beans, mushrooms, black pudding and tomatoes is a healthier way to start the day than a bowl of cereal, according to a study in the International Journal of Obesity.

4. The UK's first sustainable cat food will go on sale later this year, allowing owners to feed felines their favourite fish with a clear conscience. People are becoming increasingly concerned about sustainability and the provenance of the fish they feed their pets, says Mars Petcare, manufacturers of the new food.

5. A couple from Devon staged a Flintstone-themed wedding that saw the groom dressed as Fred Flintsone, the bride as Wilma, the best man as Barney Rubble and... you can guess the rest. They sealed their vows with the promise "Yabba dabba, I do".

Grille-ed duck - big on survival instinct

6. A British van driver who hit two ducks while driving home through Belgium discovered one of them alive, wedged under the bonnet, when he stopped to inspect the damage at a motorway service station on the M1. He took the duck to a rescue centre which said it had a broken wing, but should make a good recovery.

7. A 300-page book of Gordon Brown's best speeches, called The Change We Choose; Speeches 2007-2009, has been published by "popular demand".

8. Cabin crew who say they are owed up to nine months' wages by a Spanish airline have posed nude for a calendar to highlight their plight.

9. Etiquette arbiter Debretts is publishing a guide to polite motoring which includes tips such as avoid spraying perfume while in a car and keep conversation light in order to avoid in-car arguments.

10. Rumours - and so, perhaps, April Fools jokes - spread as rapidly as flu, thanks to a test carried out on the internet. Researchers from Rome's La Sapienza University posted a message on Twitter only to see it appear in a newspaper 17 hours later.