SHEEP have returned to Ruswarp auction mart for the first time since the Whitby area was struck by foot-and-mouth disease more than 18 months ago.
Auctioneer Robert Smith said "We are delighted with the number of sheep - nearly 4,000 - which was good for this time of the year. It's positive news for the farming community". He added that prices were encouraging.
Glaisdale farmer Martin Burtt, a leading upland sheep farmer and NFU official, said: "Livestock farmers in the Esk Valley are delighted that some kind of normality is returning to our lives. To have the sheep back at the market, albeit with bio-security and isolation requirements back on the farm, is a major step forward".
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