BARN owls are becoming a more common in part of North Yorkshire thanks to a scheme designed to build them a home.

The Vale of Pickering Barn Owl Conservation Network is a voluntary scheme which had been putting up nesting boxes for the owls for 17 years.

This year, the scheme celebrated its first successful clutch of seven eggs, but numbers have been rising steadily for a number of years.

Founder and countryside ranger Paul Willett said: "The group has a core of about six volunteers. We also have lots of other helpers willing to pitch in when needed.

"The main area we cover, from an historical point of view, has been quite sparse in barn owls compared with other areas. As we have been working over the last 17 years and throughout this time our populations have strengthened."

One measure of the way the numbers are recovering is the number of young birds the project rings each year. In 1992, 18 were ringed. This year, the figure was 110.

Mr Willett said: "A brood averages four to five eggs but this year, for the first time ever, we had a brood of seven, which all fledged, which is very encouraging."

He said the increase was not just down to them having more nesting sites. Changes in farming practices with schemes such as set-aside and Countryside Stewardship were allowing populations of field vole, the owl's main prey, to flourish.