FIGURES have been released illustrating the extent of York’s tourism boom over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The number of pedestrians thronging the city centre’s streets was up by 6.5 per cent on the same weekend last year. Devices installed in Parliament Street and Coney Street, which log every person who passes, revealed there was a total of 223,590 pedestrians over the period Saturday to Monday.

The figure compares with a footfall of 209,894 over the same three days last year. The Press reported last week that Easter weekend footfall was up by more than eight per cent compared with last year’s Easter.

The devices showed that on royal wedding day, footfall was extremely low during the service, but rose sharply later, with a total of 46,784 pedestrians compared with an average figure for a Friday of 50,300.