COWS from the region are the unlikely singing stars of a series of Christmas tunes designed to improve the image of dairy farmers.

The udderly ridiculous idea to use the sound of cows’ lowing to record Christmas carols and songs came from dairy farmers’ support group DairyCo.

They decided to call game-for-a-laugh Stokesley farmer, John Chapman, 23, and asked him to try and turn his 150 cattle into singing stars.

“It was a little bit of a nightmare,” said Mr Chapman, who works on his parents’ farm.

“Cows only moo when they want milking, food or they’re not happy in some way. Of course as soon as I actually wanted one to moo they were completely quiet for a week.

“You’d hear one moo, rush up to her and then she’d be completely quiet.

“It’s got a few comments at the Young Farmers’ club.

People ask ‘What have you been up to?’, and I reply ‘Well, listen to this. I’ve been recording my cows’ moos.”

“I’ve had a few odd looks.”

The lowing sounds provided by Mr Chapman, who used his smartphone to record his cows, and those of another farmer in the Midlands, were sent to DairyCo. They were digitally enhanced to “sing”

Christmas classic tunes such as Silent Night and Jingle Bells. They can be downloaded free at mootunes.org Mr Chapman said: “I’ve put one on my phone now as a ringtone and everyone looks amazed when it rings. It’s great knowing that our cows’ voices here can be heard by anyone across the world now.”

Amanda Ball, who heads up the communications team at DairyCo, a not-for-profit organisation, said: “It’s a bit of fun and we really want people to enjoy the tunes, but there is also a serious challenge here in trying to help make the connection between those who produce our food and those who consume it.

“The tunes are a real novelty and perfect for mobile phone ringtones – though I don’t think they’ll make the Christmas No1.”

The song titles are Deck The Cows, Jingle Cows, Moo Alert Tune, Silent Cows and We Moo You A Merry Christmas.