Auditions are about to take place at one of the region's grisliest tourist attractions.

York Dungeon is on the look out for an actor to portray Erik Bloodaxe in a new £50,000 display, recreating the Viking invasion.

The Gorvik exhibition - a title taking a cheeky swipe at another of York's famous visitor attractions, the Yorvik Viking Centre opens at Easter and will be sparing nothing in the blood and gore department.

Dungeon boss Helen Douglas said: "Ours will be no sanitised version of the Viking story. Our visitors will be left in no doubt as to the true scale of the slaughter and cruelty inflicted on the people of York by these Scandinavian marauders."

The dungeon is looking for up to three new recruits to its acting team - and the ability to menace convincingly in the role of Eric, or indeed Erica, will be essential.

Performance supervisor Chris Taylor said: "We'll shortlist a dozen or so for auditions in early March, when we'll be looking for real scare quality."

Whoever lands the role of the new character will feature in the climax of the exhibition, which is set to be one of the most gruesome yet produced by the dungeon.