SHEEP have returned to Ruswarp auction mart for the first time since the Whitby area was struck by foot and mouth disease over 18 months ago.
Auctioneer Robert Smith said: "We are delighted with the number of sheep which was good for this time of the year. It's positive news for the farming community."
He added that prices were encouraging.
Glaisdale farmer Martin Burtt, a leading upland sheep farmer and NFU official, said: "Livestock farmers in the Esk Valley are delighted that some kind of normality is returning to our lives.
"To have the sheep back at the market, albeit with bio-security and isolation requirements back on the farm, is a major step forward."
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