I WRITE on behalf of the organisers of the carol service in York Minster last weekend to apologise to almost 500 people that we were unable to accommodate for the event.

Although the doors opened one hour before the start of the service, by 6.30pm nearly all the seats in the Minster were full with queues still stretching down Petergate as far as King's Square.

At this point more people were sitting on the floor and standing against walls and around pillars, some sitting behind projector screens relaying the meeting to the side aisles of the Minster, with others on benches and stools. We filled it to capacity with 3,500 people.

Although some could have been seated in the choir stalls they would have not been able to see and were unlikely to have been able to hear. At this point we felt we had no option but to close the doors and not admit any more.

It is with great regret that we had to turn away an estimated 500.

On behalf of St Michael-le-Belfrey Church and Just 10 in York we wish to apologise to all of those who were turned away. Plans are already underway to provide video links from the Minster for the Just 10 series starting next April, allowing us to accommodate more than 5,000 people on each night.

Anyone who missed the service will be able to hear it on BBC Radio York this Sunday at 8am.

Mark Rance,

Church co-ordinator,

St. Michael-le-Belfrey,

York.

Updated: 10:23 Friday, December 21, 2001