TV star James Nesbitt has waxed lyrical about the joys of visiting North Yorkshire.

The award-winning actor was in the county to officially unveil the new 250-acre Hollicars Holiday Park, in Escrick, near York, at the weekend.

The brainchild of landowner Charles Forbes Adam, the park could bring up to £1m a year into the local economy.

The Cold Feet star, who is married to Mr Forbes Adam's cousin, Sonia, said he loved visiting the area, and was delighted to be asked to open the park.

The Forbes Adam family has owned and managed the enormous Escrick Park Estate for more than 300 years.

Planning permission was granted in November 2003 for part of the land to be dedicated to leisure use.

The centrepiece of the development is the Hollicars Holiday Park, set in deciduous and evergreen woodland and with enough room for 70 holiday homes and 70 timber lodges. There is also a fishing lake, cycle tracks and a bowling green.

Mr Nesbitt said: "I love this part of the world, and it is unquestionably the people that make it such a wonderful place.

"There is a perception of the dour Yorkshireman, just as there is of the dour Ulsterman, but for me dour is synonymous with friendly and welcoming."