SWORDS were raised in York to celebrate the 500,000th visitor to Jorvik since its £5 million refurbishment last year.

The Viking-themed centre in Coppergate reopened in April 2001 and has seen more visitors than ever step over the threshold - up 15 per cent on recent years.

Yesterday Max Glanvill, from George Watson's College in Edinburgh, became the 500,000th person to enjoy the attraction and he was happy to join in the celebrations with Jorvik staff, Graham Hall, chairman of Yorkshire Forward and Irene Waudby, Lord Mayor of York.

Jorvik spokeswoman Gillian Neild said: "The reopening was such a huge development for us that we wanted to celebrate this important landmark."

The original Jorvik Viking Centre opened in 1984 and the next milestone

is just around the corner, as the centre is expecting to welcome its 13 millionth visitor over the Easter weekend.

Updated: 11:31 Friday, March 15, 2002