A SHOP that appeals to people's sweet tooth is becoming one of North Yorkshire's fastest growing tourist attractions.

The Little Chocolate Shop started out as a small basement business in Leyburn 18 months ago.

But now it is drawing in visitors from all round the world with the help of Business Link York and North Yorkshire.

About 20,000 people have visited the shop, in Leyburn Business Park, over the last 10 weeks and annual turnover has increased five-fold since Clare Gardiner launched the business.

It now employs two full-time and two part-time staff and has recently taken on an apprentice.

The Little Chocolate Shop was originally set up in a tiny basement room at Mill Race Tea Shop at Aysgarth Falls after Business Link adviser Brian Woodhouse helped Clare obtain funding.

The tea shop, which Clare took on at the end of 2000, had been threatened with closure during the foot-and-mouth crisis and she decided to diversify into chocolate manufacturing, after training at the Callebaut Institute in Aalst, Belgium.

By the end of 2002 the Little Chocolate Shop's wares had become so popular she could hardly keep up with demand so she sold the tea shop to concentrate on chocolate manufacturing.

Clare received a second grant to refurbish the new premises at Leyburn, including a viewing area so Clare could host factory visits.

And now it has become an English Tourism Council Quality Assured Visitor Attraction, after undergoing a rigorous quality assurance assessment.

Clare said yesterday: "We wouldn't be here without Brian's help -- he was brilliant."