AN arts festival is to be staged to help celebrate the refurbishment of a market place.

The last phase of Knaresborough market place's £600,000 revamp has seen it totally transformed, with the addition of new tourist trails and seating areas.

And the town's first festival of entertainment and visual arts will mark the end of the work later this year.

Harrogate borough councillor Michael Newby, cabinet member for public works, said: "We want to tell everyone that, after a lot of debating, consulting and redesigning the plans a few times, we think we have a market place ready for the 21st Century, which we hope will prove to be a long-term hit.

"With the agreement of the Knaresborough Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts (Feva) committee, we are holding an event to mark the completion of this three-year project to coincide with the opening of this year's Feva."

Coun Newby also paid tribute to the work of Terry Maude, a former president of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, whose efforts played a big part in the project.

"We are grateful to Terry for his continued foresight and will welcome him as a special guest at the opening ceremony," he said