ONCE it was a symbol of the local squire in his country house with space for two grand coaches, stabling for the horses and accommodation for the grooms. Today, however, the 200-year-old coach house at Swinithwaite Hall could be in the vanguard of bringing electronic commerce into the dales.

On Monday evening last week the grade II listed building was officially opened as modern offices after £200,000 of renovation work which included replacing the roof before it collapsed.

For ten years the present owner, Mr Adrian Thornton-Berry, had dreamt of restoring the building especially as, in the past five years, it was no longer used even to store hay. As the farming industry declined he, like many others, wondered how he could diversify using the assets he had.

There were many obstacles along the way. "We had some difficulties with the national park over the planning situation and farm diversification but the whole idea of conservation rather than preservation is now more accepted, especially as farming is going down."

He also spoke highly of the impact of the European Objective 5b scheme and of Mr Nick White who helped to administer the scheme as the farm diversification officer for North Yorkshire County Council.

The other group to come the aid of the scheme was Yorkshire Forward, the Yorkshire and Humberside regional development agency which has replaced the rural development commission.

Ms Pam Warhurst, a Yorkshire Forward board member, said they wanted to use the coach house as a demonstration of what could be achieved by local people working in partnership with the public sector to use such redundant buildings to create jobs in the countryside.

She would like enough employment opportunities to be available so that young people did not have to move out of the dales. "We would like to see other redundant buildings revitalised," she added and encouraged more people to contact the agency.

The three offices now available at the coach house have been designed for the world of electronic commerce so that those who rent them can enjoy the dales countryside and not be restricted by any local transport problems.

"Computers are opening up the world," said Mr Peter Ide, who deals with redundant building grants for Yorkshire Forward. He explained that, when Yorkshire Forward received requests from businesses for office space, they tried to match the need with the sites they had given grants to whether these were at Hawes, Catterick, Aske or Swinithwaite.

At Swinithwaite, Mr Thornton Berry has his farm and estate office on the ground floor alongside the Coach House secretarial services. Ms Pam Smith of West Burton is administering the business accommodation and office services.

She said they were not only able to offer three office suites but also extra secretarial support for local businesses. This included a telephone answering service and accommodation address. There are also conference facilities suitable for meetings and training seminars.