BOOK-LOVERS across North Yorkshire are being urged to do their bit in the latest search for the country's favourite reading matter.

The Big Read is a project from the BBC, which aims to find the nation's favourite book.

North Yorkshire's library service is running a parallel poll to compare the county's views with the national vote.

Voting ends on Saturday, April 19, and people are invited to visit their libraries to cast their votes by either filling in a voting slip, or via the free Internet service which is available in all North Yorkshire library and information centres.

The county council's executive member for libraries, Councillor John Dennis, said: "We are pleased to be joining forces with the BBC for this special initiative. We would like to invite readers across North Yorkshire to drop into their local library and vote for their favourite novel."

The local results will be published in all the libraries and on the council's website.