Ring in the new

Cheers rang out, champagne corks popped and fireworks whizzed through the air as the Minster bells heralded the arrival of 2005.

Pubs, clubs and restaurants across the city had been packed out all evening on New Year's Eve, and by 11.30pm a huge crowd of partygoers had gathered outside the Minster.

At 11.59pm the area thronged with boisterous, but good-natured revellers - all of whom burst into cheers and applause when the New Year began a minute later.

Scattered groups fired off party poppers, sent picture messages on their mobile phones and launched into spontaneous renditions of Auld Lang Syne.

James Lucas, of Fulford, said: "I come to the Minster every year and it's always great. The setting is just perfect to see in the New Year."

Sara Lampton, from Birmingham, had come to York to see in the New Year with friends.

She said: "This is a wonderful place to be. We've all had a fab night."

But the devastation wrought by the Asian tsunami on Boxing Day was never far from people's minds, and Oxfam volunteers with collection buckets raised hundreds of pounds for the relief effort in only a few hours.

Kathryn Smith, an Oxfam volunteer who spent her New Year's Eve collecting money outside the Minster, said: "It was an awful end to the year, but we knew people in York would be sympathetic, and this was a great opportunity to raise money.

"Everyone tonight has been so generous with their donations."

Police and paramedics kept a watchful eye on the revellers, on what is traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year for the emergency services.

North Yorkshire police reported a busy night, taking over 300 emergency calls.

Almost 100 arrests were made on New Year's Day. From midnight to midnight, 97 people were arrested across the county - about double the usual number.

A spokesman for Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was a "very busy" evening, but there were no major incidents.

Updated: 09:30 Monday, January 03, 2005