He's used to hearing it on stage - but for once, York panto star Martin Barrass didn't have to be told "he's behind you!" as he was being pursued by a Viking mob.

The Jorvik Vikings will be doing a lot more pillaging this year thanks to a £5,000 grant from the Millennium Festival Awards For All scheme.

Members of the group, dressed in full costume, were presented with a cheque by Martin Barrass, who plays Stanley Sessay in this year's production of Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal.

He handed it over - eventually - after a mock chase through York. The scheme is a joint programme set up to help local groups. The Jorvik Vikings are the York branch of The Vikings, Britain's largest and oldest medieval historical re-enactment society.

The group portray Anglo-Scandinavian life during the ninth and tenth centuries in Britain.

Updated: 10:41 Thursday, January 25, 2001