TWO unusually life-like models will be joining the team at the World of James Herriot, in Thirsk.

Two of its longest serving members of staff, Margi Tipton and David Shields, will give the centre a lasting reminder of their work by becoming the life casts for the models.

Plaster body moulds of Ms Tipton and Mr Shields will be taken next week, ready for their transformation into characters for the centre.

Museum officer Ms Tipton will become one of James Herriot's best-known characters, Mrs Pumphrey, and will be found sitting in the dining room waiting to see the vet with her beloved pekinese, Tricki-Woo.

Mr Shields, head of tourism, is to be a television technician working the dials in the control centre of the reconstructed TV studios.

By Easter, the models will join that of James Herriot, who has been a feature in the living room since the visitor centre opened in 1999.

"Introducing these characters into the centre will breathe new life into two of the reconstructed rooms," said centre manager Sue Dalton.