AN international pressure group set up to warn against the dangers of fast food culture is heading to North Yorkshire.

Tour operator Slow Food was first established in Italy to highlight the importance of supporting locally-produced, traditional food.

Plans to open up a branch in Ryedale are progressing steadily, according to Linda Hearn, who helped to set up the group.

"We are a tour operator and we are very keen to send our customers to places with fine food," she said.

"Gastronomy has long been a part of what we are about. We go off the beaten track to find little places where you really get under the skin of where you are."

The first meeting of the branch has already taken place in Hovingham, when organisers said they hoped to provide a financial boost to the county, which suffered a serious fall in visitors last year.

Mrs Hearn said: "North Yorkshire suffered such a lot through the loss of tourism because of foot-and-mouth.

"Hopefully Slow Food will show people that not only do we have stunning countryside, we also have wonderful locally-produced food."