CALLING all Yorkies! Your city needs you.

The Diary is disturbed to learn that York is falling behind in an online poll to determine the city's position on the board of a new edition of Monopoly.

Last week, The Press reported how a version of the hit game is being released, called UK Here & Now.

Its makers, Parker, are basing the game's 22 locations not on the price of property, but on the number of votes received from online voters for different UK locations.

When we published the article York seemed to be heading for the top spot, the equivalent of Mayfair in the traditional game. But since then, it has slipped down the ranks.

York's own Roman centurion Keith Mulhearn, who runs Roamin' Tours, has now appealed for more votes.

He said: "I've really got into it. I've been voting every day. We don't want to see York as the UK's Old Kent Road."

The city is currently ranked tenth, and at the moment would end up as Fleet Street, the former home of the country's newspapers.

It has about 2,900 votes, but is still behind such places as Keele, Loughborough, Shrewsbury and St Andrews.

So, get voting at www.monopoly.co.uk, and make your city proud.


Travel tales with a difference

THERE'S nothing like a good book on a long journey.

And it seems some books in York could be taking a trip themselves.

Walking through the city centre last week, a Diary correspondent spotted a new paperback inside the phone box in King's Square.

Being a diligent citizen, he had a look to see if there was any way of tracing whoever had lost their beloved tome - Victoria Hislop's The Island.

Except it turned out it hadn't been misplaced at all.

Indeed, a post-it note on the cover read: "I'm not lost - I'm on a journey."

The novel is part of a commendable book exchange programme, run through the bookcrossing.com website. Readers are invited to read the book, register it online using a special ID number on the inside cover, and then release it by leaving it somewhere, thus restarting the cycle.

Well, The Diary has done our bit. The book has now been released back into the wilds of York city centre. We'll keep you posted if we hear any more of its magical mystery tour.