SNIP! And it was a case of happy snap - as a snappy new Jessops photographic shop opened in Parliament Street, York, just a telephoto lens view away from its branch in Piccadilly.

Snipper was Derek Hine, chief executive of the £242 million Jessops group, and this was special because it was his 250th branch.

It underlined just how far the boom in digital photography has come.

Richard Adams, of Jessops' marketing department, said: "The Piccadilly branch has been so successful that it was clear that there could easily be another branch nearby to satisfy a huge demand.

"Sales connected with digital photography have increased by 150 per cent per year for the last two years and people in York are camera crazy!"

The Parliament Street shop, which will be managed by Stuart Robinson and eight new staff, brings the number of Jessops branches in York to three, including another based in Monks Cross, Huntington.

Updated: 09:50 Tuesday, December 02, 2003