TOURISM businesses on the Yorkshire Coast are being offered grants of up to £5,000 in an effort to boost the industry.

The funding is being provided by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to the Coastal Tourism Initiative.

More than £355,000 has been awarded to 70 businesses on the coast, said Fiona Lawson of the Yorkshire Tourist Board, the lead partner in the initiative.

KITCHEN DISPLAY: The Castle Museum in York is showing visitors that home is where the hearth is. A new exhibition will take visitors through 300 years of life in the kitchen, featuring fireplaces and ranges.

FARMERS' MARKET: Yorkshire Ridings Produce is to hold its first farmers' market in Easingwold market square on Wednesday, January 22, from 10am.

CHOIR'S CASH: Members of Bedale High School Choir raised almost £80 for cancer charities when they braved the cold and went busking in the streets of the town.

BRIDAL SHOW: The Yorkshire Spring Brides exhibition will be held at Pavilions of Harrogate, on the Great Yorkshire Showground, on March 22 and 23.

CHARGES UP: Transport bosses in York have recommended that parking charges for visitors should rise by 20p per hour. However, they want the cost to stay at present levels for residents.

PHOTO ART: A photography exhibition celebrating the variety of the coastline from Withernsea to Sunderland will open at Scarborough Art Gallery on January 25 and continue until March 29. Called In Littoral Light, it features the work of Gerhard Stromberg, Mike Stiff and Peter Heaton.

CAMPAIGN SITE: The Castle Area Campaign, one of the groups fighting plans to develop a shopping complex in the shadow of Clifford's Tower in York, has launched the www.yorkcastle.com website in an effort to reach an international audience.