THE region’s tourism capital may be miles inland, but it’s about to provide a seaside experience.

The city of York has imported 15 tonnes of top-quality sand to create an urban beach within the Coppergate Centre.

And even as a team of beach-builders were levelling the new attraction, local youngsters were clamouring to get stuck in.

The beach will open this Saturday and will be surrounded by wind breaks, with a host of buckets, spades, windmills and sand moulds.

It will also include a few deckchairs for anyone who fancies knotting a hanky on their head and braving the British summer sun.

“The benches in Coppergate are always a popular place for people to sit during the summer, so we thought that creating our own urban beach was a great way to give families some chill-out time in the city centre this summer,” said centre manager Pippa Unwin.

The name of the new attraction – Coppergate Strand – is of Viking origin as “strond” is the Norse word for beach.

In fact the Strand in London was a sandy area by the riverside during the time of the Vikings - and its name has stuck for more than 1,000 years.