THE famous Masham Sheep Fair is to go ahead this September despite the foot-and-mouth crisis.

However, it will be different to usual, as none of the sheep will be real.

Schools, churches, youth clubs, businesses and individuals are being challenged to spend the next few months making their Swaledales and Bluefaced Leicesters from paper and cardboard, or anything else they can lay their hands on.

"It does have to be life sized. They can be made of anything,'' said spokesman, Nicola Read, who works at the Acorns pre-school nursery where the children have already been designing a prototype sheep.

"They all got absolutely covered in paint, but they loved it - and that is what the whole thing is about.''

The sheep will be entered into an extraordinary class for the best scarecrow, shepherd and sheep. The winner will receive prize money of £500. The models can be made from any materials and be of any size. Entry is free but a pen must be booked.

The winner will be chosen by the public. Each pen will have a bucket into which coins can be placed. The one with the most popular appeal and the largest amount will be the winner. All the money collected will go to agricultural charities which help farmers affected by the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Entry forms are available from Broadley's office in the Market Place, Masham, or from Mrs Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Glebe House, Masham, Ripon, HG4 4EQ.

For more information about the competition at the fair on September 29 and 30, contact 01725 689300.