ANYONE interested in taking part in a live radio debate is being urged to apply for a ticket.

More than 500 free tickets have already been snapped up for the BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions?, at the Borough Hall, on Hartlepool's Headland, on Friday.

The show will be presented by Jonathan Dimbleby and his guests will include Trade Secretary Stephen Byers, MP David Davis and MSP Jim Wallace.

The show was invited to the town by Hartlepool Borough Council as part of this year's celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the granting of the town's Royal Charter by King John.

Lesley Strickland, who has been organising the charter celebrations, said: "The Any Questions show was broadcast from Hartlepool in 1951, when the town was celebrating a previous charter anniversary, so its return is particularly fitting."

Doors open at the Borough Hall at 6.45pm on Friday, and the debate goes live on air at 8pm. The free tickets are available from Hartlepool Tourist Information Centre in Church Square or by contacting (01429) 890000.