York Minster, which is referred to as York Cathedral in the video

Clifford's Tower, which gets renamed Clifford Tower on the cover of the video

The sign for Ye Olde Starre Inne in Stonegate, an image which is used to illustrate a reference to York's quaint shops

The video can bought in York, at a cost of £5.95, and is one of a series of 11 by the same makers, Mart Videos of Rufford, Lancashire.Alan Martland, the owner of the company, commented: "We are not the BBC. The video is a few years old now but the information was correct at the time we made it."

A new unofficial video tourist guide to York has been slammed as amateurish by York's Tourism Bureau. Reporter DAN RUTSTEIN gave it the once-over

Even for a non-Yorkshireman like myself who has lived in this fair city for only four years, the errors in the Yorkshire Video are glaring.

The offending video has a section on the Minster which is introduced - horror of horrors - with the words "This is York Cathedral".

As if that was not enough, York Mystery Plays, held every four years, are described in the video as "every three years".

That, though, is just the beginning.

The lack of synchronisation between the images and the words leaves the viewer struggling to understand why a picture of the Golden Fleece pub in Pavement is described as "an example of one of many of the fine churches in York" At another point in the video, a voiceover describing York's quaint shops is illustrated with a picture of the hanging sign for Ye Olde Starre Inne, York's oldest public house.

There are basic mistakes in pronunciation, too, that will grate on the nerves of any true Yorkshire folk.

The presenter, Beryl Carswell, says 'Jaw'-vik instead of Jorvik, and gives two different pronunciations of 'Eboracum' - the Roman name for York. She also uses the nonexistent word "navigatable" instead of navigable.

On the cover of the video there is another inaccuracy; Clifford's Tower is named Clifford Tower.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of the York Tourism Bureau, added "There is a lack of enthusiasm in the voice of the presenter, as if she is reading it out of a book.

"Her lack of correct pronunciation shows the presenter is not knowledgeable about York, it doesn't do the city any good.

"The video is obviously a few years old, visitors are expecting an up-to-date video, this looks dated."

But Jim Stouph, the owner of Fentons giftshop which sells the videos, defended it. He said: "It is good value for money. I've watched it and I think it shows a good cross-section of York's main sites. We sell a lot of them."

The video is also available from Pickering & Co, also in Shambles.

Alan Martland, the owner of Mart Videos who produced the video, commented: "We have made something which is very appealing as a souvenir, we are very sorry if there are any errors. Surely these small errors are unimportant, they shouldn't detract from the overall view the video gives."

see COMMENT 'Let down by these howlers'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.