York residents are being given the chance to slip between the sheets for a night at one of the city's luxury hotels.

John Gallery, manager of the Swallow Hotel, York, welcomes residents

And when the time comes to check out, they will be waved on their way without so much as a mention of that trivial matter - paying the bill.

The city's top hotels have clubbed together to give away free nights to residents of York during the Residents' First weekend at the end of this month.

As usual, the weekend will offer locals the freedom of the city, with free entry to scores of museums and other attractions.

And for the first time, hotels are offering free nights to the only people who will probably never need them - York's residents.

In total, 160 rooms will be up for grabs at hotels including the Swallow, Forte Posthouse, The Dean Court, Jarvis International, Monk Bar, Elmbank and Royal York.

John Gallery, manager of the Swallow Hotel, on Tadcaster Road, said: "Residents already have an opportunity to see attractions like the Jorvik Centre but people who live locally are unlikely to have stayed in one of the city's hotels.

"We want them to recommend our hotels to their friends and relatives who come to visit the city.

"It's also a way of giving something back to the people of York and thanking them for supporting the city's tourism industry.

"I suspect a lot of people do not realise how good our hotels actually are and how much investment we've put into them."

The free nights are on Sunday, January 31, and details of how residents can get them will be published in the Evening Press on January 21.

Other attractions that will be free to residents are medieval Barley Hall, off Stonegate, Clifford's Tower, the F1 Racing go-kart centre at Monks Cross, sightseeing tours on Guide Friday buses, the Jorvik Viking Centre, the Mansion House, and the Micklegate Bar Museum, where traitors to the city once had their severed heads stuck on poles.

The regimental museum of the Royal Dragoon Guards and the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, on Tower Street, is another attraction taking part in the weekend, as is the Minster stoneyard, where guided tours are available of the workshop.

The National Railway Museum will be free on both days, as will the museum of farming and Viking Danelaw village at Murton Park.

Other attractions with free tickets include the Richard III Museum at Monk Bar, the road train from the Minster, St William's College, Water World and the York Brewery Company.

The Castle Museum, York Dungeon, City Art Gallery, York Story, Yorkshire Museum and the Yorkshire Air Museum will be free to residents too.

There are also 20 pairs of tickets to the Warner Brothers cinema.

See our EVENTS CALENDAR for more details about the Resident's First weekend

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