Richmond'S probably got more than enough heritage to lose a little bit without anyone noticing unduly.

As the town is still struggling to overcome an image that some may have of it as a community preserved in aspic, the loss of a traditional pub name is perhaps not something to get too worked about.

Most Richmond citizens this week seemed rather relaxed about the metamorphosis of The Fleece into The Tanya's Charms, a publicity stunt engineered by a magazine which featured the aforesaid Tanya's charms on its front cover and the pub's owners who have an undoubted eye for an opportunity, as well as a shapely female derriere.

Perhaps they knew this was all just a bit of well-engineered PR, a belief confirmed yesterday by the news that due to some abusive phone calls, the licensees had thought better of it and removed the sign. The pub is now once more called The Fleece.

The loss of a name which had graced the building for 300 years would have been regrettable, especially when it was done so casually and with so little thought for the history of the town.

Of course, this is not an unfamiliar state of affairs. Almost every town has lost old pub names as the drinks industry has deliberately sought to make going to the pub a more modern, less traditional activity designed to appeal to the young.

In Darlington, the Freemasons' Arms became the Old English Gentleman and then the Tap and Spile. In Thirsk, the Red Bear became the Darrowby Inne. Only in Northallerton was the tide of change repulsed. The Standard pub, which commemorated the bloody battle of that name fought just a couple of miles north of the town, had its name changed to something more trendy but the owners changed their mind when protests mounted.

In Richmond another heritage battle has been won and let be a lesson to landlords that fancy playing fast and loose with pub heritage