Malton’S links with Charles Dickens have been celebrated with a series of events to mark the 200th anniversary of the author’s birth.

They included a special exhibition at the Counting House in Chancery Lane, which is run by the Charles Dickens (Malton) Society.

Chairman Brian Oxberry said the museum had been open on the Saturday before and after Dickens’s birthday as well as the anniversary itself last Tuesday.

“Our secretary Linda McCarthy put together a special display to mark the bicentenary,” he said.

“Members have also taken part in performances at the Milton Rooms and Malton Library and the celebrations will be rounded off with a lunch this week.”

Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, and had a number of links with Malton.

One of his friends, Charles Smithson, a lawyer who lived at Easthorpe Hall, had a practice in the town and it was his office in Chancery Lane that is credited with the inspiration for Dickens’s most famous character, Ebeneezer Scrooge, the miser in A Christmas Carol.

Brian said the society had secured funding for the lease on the Counting House until April 2012 and it would be open throughout the summer “There has been a lot of coverage of Dickens’s birthday nationally but it is also important that as many people as possible are made aware of his connection with Malton,” he said.

The Charles Dickens (Malton) Society meets each month in The Hidden Monkey Tearooms, Market Place, Malton. For details phone Linda McCarthy on 01653 698701.

• The society is running an art competition to mark the bicentenary.

Youngsters are invited to create a portrait of the author in any medium which will go on display in Malton and form part of a mural at the Counting House this summer.

There are three age categories: five-eight years, nine-12 years and 12-16 years. The winner of each group will receive £10 and the runner-up will receive £5.

Each entry should be A4 size and include the entrant’s name, address and phone number on the back.

Entries should be sent to the Gazette & Herald, 22 Yorkersgate, Malton, YO17 7AB, by February 29.