COUNTDOWN host and locally-based celebrity Richard Whiteley celebrated two decades of conundrums and art when he opened an annual Ilkley art exhibition.

Mr Whiteley has clocked up 20 years on his Channel 4 show Countdown - alongside the same period enjoyed by the art shows in Ilkley. At the weekend, he launched the British Watercolour Society's Christmas Exhibition at the King's Hall and Winter Garden.

Artists, guests and exhibition visitors were entertained by his opening speech as they gathered for the annual event. Mr Whiteley read out poems sent to him by viewers and even one about himself as part of the 20th anniversary.

Attendance at the exhibition - which is sponsored by The Mail on Sunday and Yorkshire Television and runs until Sunday - has been good so far, say organisers, with every screen and stand in the hall open, and a total of 1,292 paintings exhibited by 175 artists.

Sales of paintings have gone well, with one Addingham artist, Lisa Moran, selling four of her six flower studies within the first hour of opening on last Saturday.

The exhibition is open daily from 11am to 4pm.