A SPECIAL, month-long promotion of Swaledale lamb is to be officially launched by William Hague, MP for Richmond.

The campaign was the idea of local farmer David Greenwood who had no trouble in persuading a local supermarket and several hotels and pubs to get involved.

Mr Hague will launch the promotion when he visits the Quality Fayre supermarket in Leyburn at 10am on Saturday, December 28.

Swaledale lamb also features as the top two prizes in a raffle run by the Rotary Club of Wensleydale on behalf of breast cancer care at the Friarage Hospital.

The Greenwood family run a flock of 1,200 Swaledale ewes on their 1,800-acre tenanted farm at Walburn Hall, near Downholme.

They recently enjoyed success at Royal Smithfield and this week were announced as winners of the Yorkshire Post/Barclays Bank Farm of the Year award.

In June next year the farm will be host to the National Sheep Association's North Sheep 2003 event which is expected to attract thousands of visitors from throughout the UK.

Mr Greenwood got his idea of selling lamb locally during the foot-and-mouth crisis and, since then, public interest and demand for traceable local food has increased dramatically and is now being promoted by Defra.

The Quality Fayre supermarket chain was only too happy to promote the lamb in its Leyburn store. The Bolton Arms at Downholme; Street Head Inn at Bishopdale; the King's Head Hotel, Richmond; the Sandpiper Inn, Leyburn, and the Buck Hotel, Reeth, are also taking part.

Farmer Nigel Fawcett, who also runs the Street Head Inn, said visitors always wanted to know if the meat was local. "People are constantly asking where the produce is from and this promotion is what it is all about," he said.

"The one good thing that came out of foot-and-mouth was that people do want to know where their food is from."

The Swaledale lambs are all reared locally and taken to the new McIntyre's abattoir at Bainbridge before delivery to those taking part in the promotion.

Jim McRobert, branch manager of Carrs Billington at Hawes, is a staunch supporter of the scheme. "It is all adding value to the product," he said, "It is an alliance between the producer and local retailers which adds value to the product and keeps the money within the local economy."

The scheme has already caused great interest in the area and led to the local Rotary club organising a raffle which offers a box of half a Swaledale lamb as first and second prize and a bottle of Sheep Dip malt whisky as third prize. The tickets have been printed and cost £1 each. The draw will take place on January 31.