FOR explorer Captain James Cook, topping a poll to find Yorkshire's most-loved hero was plain sailing.

The labourer's son from Marton, Middlesbrough, beat authoress Charlotte Bronte, pioneering Amy Johnson and Sir Len Hutton in the Millennium poll.

Yesterday, as part of Middlesbrough's Yorkshire Day celebrations, Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, paid his respects to the area's most famous son.

Accepting the tribute was Capt Cook's number one fan, Ian Stubbs, who dressed up as his hero for the occasion.

Mr Stubbs, assistant curator at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, in Middlesbrough's Stewart Park, presented a scale model of the circumnavigator's bark, HMS Endeavour, to the MP, who will display it on his desk at the House of Commons.