IN between travelling back and forth to Nashville to record her latest country blues album, York singer Suzy Martell has added another string to her bow.

She will appear as an extra in Tim Burton's new summer blockbuster Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. "I'd almost forgotten I'd signed up to the Mad Dogs Theatrical Agency because I'd never heard anything from them, but then I got a call to go to Surrey for three days to be in a film with Johnny Depp," Suzy said.

Was it all Hollywood glamour and razzle-dazzle? "Not exactly! It was freezing-cold November, and we were filming in this big warehouse, dressed like they are at Nestl Rowntree in white coats and hair nets, in a scene where we were looking for a golden ticket. Blink and you'll probably miss me."

She did, however, encounter leading man Johnny Depp and co-star James Fox. "Johnny walked by and said 'Good morning ladies; isn't it cold today?', and he was much shorter than I expected!" Suzy said. "James Fox was charming; he said he could guess where I came from within 50 miles when he heard my accent. He said Scarborough, which wasn't bad, as most people think I'm from Barnsley."

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory will be released on July 29. In the meantime, Suzy will return to Nashville next month to continue work on her album. Six recordings are complete; another half dozen songs are ready for the studio.

Come May 28, she will be back in York for her first hometown concert since November 2003, playing The Junction in Leeman Road that night at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 from the pub.

Suzy, by the way, has a new award to celebrate; she has won the European Blues Female Vocalist of the Year gong in a German award ceremony for her single A Dose Of You.

BLAMELESS men across Malton could receive a chilly reception on returning from the boozer after a swift one this Sunday, if they try to tell their loved ones that they spotted Samson and Delilah, Mary and Joseph and the Three Wise Men supping pints at the bar.

But it won't be overindulgence in Suddaby's Auld Bob that has led to these apparently tall tales. Pub punters will instead probably have caught sight of an unofficial Malton and Norton Rugby Union Club event on for the Bank Holiday weekend.

Super Sunday offers an opportunity for all the butch brawlers to wear fancy dress and go on a pub crawl.

Many shake off the shackles of masculinity, judging by the brutal line-up last August, where players had to buy an outfit from a charity shop, with a spending allowance of £7.50. What sights there were to see: pectorals bulged out of boob tubes and muscular thighs stretching mini skirts.

The Antipodean other half of one woman known to the Diary, who shall remain nameless to hide her mortal embarrassment, wore a woman's ski jumpsuit, tight shocking pink gilet and a string vest (price labels still attached). Wearing his better half's lilac Christian Dior visor shades couldn't save the outfit.

But drinkers are in for a different treat this time. The theme this Sunday is the Bible. So will we see Moses producing a new set of Commandments, or Noah failing to find his Ark because of a flood of ale? Only time will tell.

Updated: 08:51 Thursday, March 24, 2005