YORK Minster is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, according to a new study published today.

And the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has earned the title as the most visited steam railway in Britain.

The Minster's two-million visitors put it in joint second place with St Paul's Cathedral for the country's most visited churches and cathedrals, according to the British Tourist Authority.

It was beaten only by Westminster Cathedral.

The railway, based at Pickering, beat off contenders with its 268,000 visitors.

But the research places Flamingo Land in 13th place for the most popular admission-charging attractions for last year, a drop of one place from the previous year.

And the rest of the region's many visitor-pullers appear a long way down on the list.

A spokesman for the authority said: "After Flamingo Land, the second most popular attraction which charges visitors in North Yorkshire is the Jorvic Viking Centre.

"But, with only about 573,000 visitors, it would feature a long way down the list, well outside the top 20 which is all I have access to at the moment."

The National Railway Museum came third in North Yorkshire's fee charging attractions, with 400,000 visitors.

Flamingo Land received more than 1,103,000 visitors last year, which left it trailing behind other admission paying centres like the Tower of London, Canterbury Cathedral, Alton Towers and London's Science Museum.

Top of the list was London's Madame Tussaud's which saw nearly 2,800,000 people go through its doors last year.

Tourism is currently one of Britain's biggest industries, contributing more than £40 billion to the economy.

York currently attracts 4million visitors every year, with 10,000 jobs created by tourism and £250million generated for the local economy.

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