IF you've seen a person dressed as a mole walking the streets of York over the past month you may have wondered who was inside.

Well you probably didn't guess that it was a multi-lingual mechanical engineering student from Kazakhstan, who has studied across Europe and is called Mansur Zhakubov.

The talented 21-year-old, pictured, says dressing as York Archaeological Research Centre's (ARC) mascot, Diggery, had been great fun. He said that although he was on an exchange placement from an engineering course at his college near Paris, dressing as a furry mammal had helped him develop vital skills. Mansur, who speaks fluent Kazakh, Russian, French and English, said it was an "opportunity in human relations" and has helped his English and understanding of archaeology.

ARC manager Sin Hayward said: "There are lots of other jobs he (Mansur) has been involved in, but this seems to have been the one he's enjoyed the most - going out in a mole suit and meeting the people of York."

Updated: 10:09 Saturday, August 31, 2002