PHOOEY to those who believe that York is deteriorating as a shopping city.

Ask Norma Townend from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, what she thinks about shopping in the ancient English capital, and she will tell you that York is Streets Ahead.

Norma arrived in York yesterday afternoon to collect her prize of £250-worth of shopping vouchers from Di Golding, manager of the Coppergate Centre.

She was the winner of a competition run by the York Tourism Bureau as part of its Streets Ahead marketing campaign, designed to stimulate an increase in visitor retail spend across the city.

Norma, laden with shopping goodies, immediately set about disproving claims made in the latest Experian Retail Rankings which puts the city at 26th - two places worse than it was last year.

Never mind the quantity of shops other cities may have, with bigger floorspace and giant malls, it's the quality that counts, she discovered.

The Streets Ahead campaign was a year-long promotion launched last June and showcased all that was different about the city's shopping in a special promotional guide.

Updated: 11:12 Tuesday, March 30, 2004