A MARKET town is hoping to mark the 850th anniversary of the granting of its first charter with a summer-long festival next year.

A working group has been formed to begin the preparations for Richmond's celebrations, which could include a series of heritage markets and others events linked to the town's history.

Mayor Stuart Parsons said the town council will be approaching Buckingham Palace in the hope it can persuade a member of the Royal Family to attend.

He said: "We've only just started out with this project so it's very much in its early stages but we hope it will be a major event which will involve the whole town in one way or another.

"We will certainly be in touch with the Palace. The proposed markets are just one other idea and could perhaps reflect different periods in the town's history - one for the Norman era, another for the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian periods.

"However, what we really want is to make it a good community event which could last the whole summer."

It is hoped schools will become involved and will develop projects which focus on the anniversary and the town's history, encouraging children to play a part in the celebrations while learning more about the history of their community.

Clubs and societies and the town's civic society have been invited to come up with ideas which can be included in the programme.

Bedale celebrated the 750th anniversary of the granting of its market charter in 2001 and Coun Parsons said the steering group may talk to its neighbouring town council to see if there is anything the working group can learn.

He said: "After all, why reinvent the wheel? It would make sense to speak to them if there are procedures which we can learn from."

Meanwhile, Ripon has also been awarded £50,000 of Lottery money to help cover the costs of marking its 400th anniversary of the granting of its market charter.

The Richmond group will also examine if the town can benefit from a similar grant in 2005.