A LIVE lambing event has been held at a North-East visitor attraction.

People had the chance to see new lambs being born at Hall Hill Farm, near Lanchester, in County Durham, on Thursday evening.

Shepherd Richard Darlington, whose family run the award-winning tourist attraction, has 250 sheep in his flock and is expecting up to 500 lambs to be born this spring.

He said: “Lambing is how Hall Hill Farm started out as an attraction many years ago, long before I was born, but it is great for our family to see that the animals that we have long cared for still as popular as ever.

“Even though we have grown as a tourism attraction we have always remained close to our agricultural roots.

“Hopefully we can both entertain and educate visitors at the same time, so they get to know more about the countryside and farming.

“For those people unable to attend the event our well-loved Lamb-Cam will also be up and running during lambing time viewable 24 hours a day on the Hall Hill Farm website.”

Mr Darlington was on hand to advise on how to spot when a ewe is close to lambing and visitors were able to bottle-feed some of the young lambs.