A NEW guide celebrating the very best of Yorkshire’s market towns has been launched.

The new Welcome to Yorkshire campaign shines the spotlight on some of the county’s best market towns, including Helmsley in Ryedale, which was named market town of the year in last year’s Great British High Street Awards.

The Market Town Trail features towns such as Thirsk, Leyburn, Easingwold, Malton and Pickering.

The guide was launched in Malton with chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, Sir Gary Verity and TV business expert Kate Hardcastle.

They were joined by Tom Naylor-Leyland, director of the Talbot Hotel and Malton Cookery School, who had been instrumental in cementing the town’s reputation as the foodie capital of Yorkshire.

Sir Gary said: “Yorkshire has an abundance of beautiful market towns scattered throughout the county, including the very best in Britain.

"This shows the calibre of Yorkshire’s market towns and I’m pleased that this guide will showcase some of the very best of them."

The guide is being supported by Kate, who is one of the UK’s leading retail experts and has advised and helped more than 1,000 firms across the county through her company, Insight with Passion, as part of a partnership with Welcome to Yorkshire.

“I work with retailers across the globe to improve customer service, but when it comes to my own shopping, there is no place like home,” she said.

“I love the diversity that can be found across the Yorkshire retail scene - especially our fabulous markets - which offer unique products, friendly service and high quality.”