EVEN Prince Charles noticed how cold it was in Middleton-in-Teesdale yesterday afternoon.

But despite the chill, residents, visitors and schoolchildren lined the streets and the prince joked he could be blamed for an outbreak of hypothermia in the village.

One of the village's oldest residents, Nellie Embrey, 96, had left her front door open all day in the hope Prince Charles might come to visit her.

Her wish was granted when he took a detour from his route to pay her a call.

Mrs Embrey said: "I was absolutely freezing. I was sat there with the door open all day, but it really made my day when he came to see me.

"He talked to me about how long I've lived here and the cafe I used to own."

Prince Charles was visiting Middleton-in-Teesdale to open Kirk Caryn House, a new building at the Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (Utass).

The prince visited Utass in 2002 and was so impressed with its work he agreed to open the building, which will provide a youth drop-in centre and offices.

As he toured the building, he met local youngsters, helped build a drystone wall, planted a tree and met trainees on a tractor driving course.

Natasha McEwan, 17, said: "He was really normal when he talked to us and interested in what we had to say.

"It was just like talking to your grandad."

He also chatted to local farmers over a whisky in the Teesdale Hotel and toured a farmers market, before turning on the town's Christmas lights.

Prince Charles said he would continue to do what he could to champion farmers and small farming families.

He said: "If other farming communities can learn something from what Utass is doing, it can only be to the benefit of the farming community."

Earlier in the day, the Prince visited North Yorkshire, where he was presented with a hand-knitted pullover at a wool mill in Muker, Swaledale.

Hand-knitting in the village dates back to Elizabethan times but died out, before being revived in the 1970s by locals who set up a cottage industry.

Prince Charles also spoke to residents at the Farmers Arms, in the village, and told them: "I love this part of the world."

He enjoyed a whisky while chatting with farmers, before enjoying a game of dominoes, which he won - to the delight of pub regulars.

Local farmer Philip Metcalfe said: "The old-fashioned farming, it's all going back to that now. He started it 20 years ago and everyone else is just latching on."

The prince also visited a stonemasons' college in York during his day-long tour of the region