COUNCILLORS have been urged to give more help to North Yorkshire's struggling farming industry in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The call came from Ryedale District Council leader, Councillor Alan Farnaby, when he backed a scheme to build a farm shop and tea room at Gate Helmsley Strawberries.

"We should be looking at ways of supporting such enterprises," he said. "This is an excellent diversification scheme."

His views were backed by Councillor Pamela Anderson, who told the authority's central area planning committee that such ventures would "bring life" into rural areas.

She said such schemes would be likely to attract European Union funding.

Area planning team leader Paul Simpson told the meeting that the development was not only in open countryside, but within the green belt of the city of York. On top of that, he said, it had not been designed in line with traditional Ryedale farm buildings.

Five full-time and 12 part-time staff are employed at the complex, on the York to Stamford Bridge road at Gate Helmsley.

Because the decision to approve the scheme was against council policy, a final decision will have to be made by the district council's policy and resources committee at its next meeting.