YEARS of tramping tourists, pilgrims and the occasional vampire dog have taken their toll on one of the most recognisable landmarks in the region.

Restoration is now required on the 199 Church Stairs at Whitby, leading from the harbourside to St Mary's Parish Church.

The stone steps are featured in Bram Stoker's classic horror story, Dracula, in which the vampire - in the form of a mad black dog - rushed ashore from a grounded boat in the harbour and ran up the steps into the clifftop churchyard.

The Rector of Whitby, the Reverend David Smith, said a £150,000 appeal had been launched to carry out the work which, he said, was essential if the steps were to remain open.

"There have been no major repairs to them for 100 years and it is now time to bring them up to a safe standard" he said.

Repairs are needed to the retaining wall and many of the steps need to be replaced.

The steps were not always of stone. Mr Smith said: "There were wooden steps until the middle of the 19th Century. They were built up the steep cliff side in the 14th Century and remade of stone in the 1800s."

Today, they are an official listed building according to English Heritage.

However, because they were left out of an 18th Century government act which adopted all other roads, tracks and yards in the port, they have remained the responsibility of the parochial church council of St Mary's, said Mr Smith.

Already, some fundraising has taken place and hopes are high that a major appeal will bring in the balance, together with a grant from English Heritage.