PEOPLE are being urged to come up with a fiver - and invest in a piece of history.

Yorkshire Stone setts, which will go around the base of the soon to be restored Otley Maypole, can be sponsored for just £5.

And anyone who takes up the offer will get a certificate and their name recorded on a special Maypole book to be buried beneath the maypole.

The Wharfedale and Airedale Observer was the first to sponsor a sett and start the ball rolling.

Editor Mel Vasey said: "We're really pleased to back such an exciting project for Otley.

"The scheme has such obvious benefits for the town as a whole.

"It's only £5, but it will mean so much to see the square made into such an important part of the town."

Work on the £30,000 Otley Maypole restoration scheme is well ahead now that planning permission has been given by Leeds City Council.

More than £20,000 has been given by the Local Heritage Initiative fund - and now the town's two morris dancing sides and the town council are aiming to raise the last £5,000 plus £6,000 worth of materials and labour.

Now, they hope to raise hundreds of pounds by asking people to sponsor the Yorkshire Stone setts that will go around the base of the maypole, opposite Otley Civic Centre.

Louise Wilson, of the Buttercross Belles, said everyone who sponsored one of the setts would get a certificate as well as getting their name included in a time capsule to be buried underneath the maypole.

It is intended that the maypole area will become a community dance and gathering area.

The maypole will stand next to the current flagpole and the square will be re-paved with Yorkshire Stone.

Road signs will be removed to make the site look less cluttered and the whole area will be made more of an attractive feature.

The pole will be made out of a tree donated from the Farnley Estate and is due to be stripped at a special ceremony including the town's mayor, Councillor Phil Coyne, on May 11.

And at the very top, its head has been fashioned from a design by Farnley schoolboy James Pickles after a number of designs were submitted by Otley children.

People will be able to sponsor a sett at a fundraising stall due to be held from 8.30am to 12 noon on Saturday at the Buttercross, Otley Market Place.

Donations to the scheme are welcome.

They can be taken to Les Cross, Otley Town Council clerk, at Otley Civic Centre. They can also be left on the day of the fundraising stall.