IT is the news that could turn a sleepy corner of North Yorkshire into a magnet for thousands of love-starved single women.

According to the newly released Census 2001 survey, Richmondshire is the place to be if you want to grab a man.

The district bucked the national trend yesterday and was named as the area with the most men - 107 of them to every 100 women.

It means the lucky ladies of Richmondshire can pick and choose in a place where it is practically raining men.

Prior to this unexpected fame, the district was better known as being a walker's paradise, with its beautiful dales villages, and for having the period set of James Herriot's veterinary surgery preserved complete in the Richmondshire Museum.

The whereabouts of the men was yesterday difficult to pinpoint exactly.

The ladies could opt for the many agricultural and sheep fairs, an essential part of the farming year.

Perhaps the male numbers could be explained by Catterick Garrison, Europe's largest Army base, which covers 2,400 acres and is the home of the infantry training centre.

But according to Teresa Moss, co-owner of the Turf Hotel in Richmond, the ladies are already beating a path to the district.

"The figures haven't surprised me at all," she said.

"We already get quite a lot of groups of women coming down from Newcastle, Hartlepool or Middlesbrough.

"But I think the men would be very pleased to see a few more coming down. That's if the ladies didn't scare them off."