FORGET Eurovision: talented songwriters are urged to try their hand at composing a millennium song for Skipton.

Yes, your ditty could soon be Boom-Bang-a-Banging out loud at every public event connected with the town, thanks to a songwriting competition sparked by the millennium celebrations.

The idea is the brainchild of the town's Millennium Task Force, which wants to stamp a musical identity on the face of Skipton - a tune to be played or sung at events after the year 2000.

So organisers of the annual Skipton Music Festival have taken up the challenge of finding the perfect signature tune.

The winner will be awarded a prize of £500 and the tune will become the universal property of any Skipton-based society, club or organisation, to use to liven up their events and promote the town.

No guidelines have been issued deliberately, leaving the creative output completely down to the public. In fact, there is no requirement that the tune has lyrics.

Ann Ware, secretary of Skipton Music Festival, said: 'The only thing we ask is that it is cheerful, simple and of popular appeal.

'Apart from that we are leaving it wide open. Entrants have a completely blank canvas.'

A distinguished panel of judges will consider all the completed works, including Embsay's renowned composer Arthur Butterworth and former head of music at Skipton Girls' High, Adrienne Fox.

Geoff Thomas, the initial driving force behind the scheme and chairman of the Millennium Task Force, said: 'The essence of the whole idea is simply 'a signature tune for Skipton'.'

Entries should be submitted no later than the end of July, and sent to: Ann Ware, secretary, Skipton Music Festival, Park House, Carleton, Skipton, BD23 3BH. For more information call Ann on 01756 793195.

* Craven's pubs and clubs will enjoy a continuous period of licensing hours throughout Millennium Eve and Day if the council gets its way.

The Home Office has asked every local authority to decide how relaxed it would like licensing hours to be at the turn of the century.

One option being considered is for a limited 4am blanket extension across the country. But Craven District Council decided last week that it would prefer the second option of a complete relaxation of the hours, leaving closing times at the discretion of bar managers.

The Government is also proposing that such a relaxation should continue on each subsequent New Year's Eve.

Now the community services committee's preference will go back to be included in a consultation paper, the findings of which will amend the Licensing Act 1964.

Coun Beth Graham, chairman of the committee, said: 'We have decided to go for general relaxation so that individual proprietors will be able to decide for themselves what time they close. I am sure they have the sufficient common sense and resources to do their own thing.

'It does seem rather strange, though, that the same policy isn't being applied to entertainment licences. We are expecting a deluge of applications for extensions, but it could have come under the same umbrella.'

But news of any blanket licensing relaxation might fall on deaf ears, with many proprietors considering closing on Millennium Eve.

In fact, the Hanover International Hotel, in Skipton, has already decided to close, instead organising a huge 'Pre-Millennium Bash' starting on Boxing Day and running up until December 31.

Spokesman Kathryn Gray said: 'Most of the staff just don't want to work on such a special evening. In any case, the cost of employing staff would mean that costs to the guests would shoot up.

'So we have decided to close after our pre-Millennium celebrations and not re-open until January 4.'

The Herald contacted most pubs in Skipton, including the Red Lion, The Albion and The Black Horse, all of which said they hadn't yet decided what their New Year's Eve policy will be.

A spokesman at the Woolly Sheep, however, said they would be open just like any other New Year's Eve.

* Bolton Abbey is to be the venue for an open-air spectacle to be held during the first week in August 2000.

It will take the form of a mystery play, specially written by Lucy Moore, of Kildwick Vicarage, and will echo those written in the Middle Ages at the time of the great Christian festivals.

The craftsmen's guilds were said to perform these open air plays which set forth the mysteries of the Christian faith for people who were, in the main, illiterate.

A lot of help is needed to stage such a production from the smallest job right up to producer and Mrs Moore will be pleased to hear from anyone who is interested. She can be contacted on 01535 633307.

* All 1,400 North Yorkshire Police officers have been told no leave will be allowed over the millennium holiday.

Instead, along with the other emergency services, they will have to provide round-the-clock cover of the county's two million acres over the millennium celebration period.

And, in order to help the police do their job, the force is asking for advance warnings on the type of celebrations planned, their locations and the number of participants.

Sgt Kevin Thornton, who heads the millennium project team, said: 'This will help all the emergency services provide the cover needed to ensure the public can enjoy their celebrations in safety.'

He added that specialist planning advice was also available. 'Those who notify us of millennium events for more than 100 people will receive a comprehensive checklist of areas they need to resolve before they open their doors,' he explained.

Other emergency services have yet to announce their plans for the millennium, including the schedule for nurses leave at Steeton's Airedale General Hospital.

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