THE Thirsk and Northallerton districts are among the poorest rural areas in North Yorkshire, according to a report published this week.

The document, compiled by the Countryside Agency, placed the two market towns in the bottom 10pc of income levels, on a par with Whitby and Scarborough. The figures are based on the proportion of the population claiming Social Security benefits.

Thirsk, Whitby and the North-East corner of Richmondshire are also singled out as areas of education deprivation, due to poor schools exam performance.

The report, entitled The State of the Countryside 2001, looks at the health of the rural Yorkshire and the Humber region in the wake of foot-and-mouth disease, including factors such as community facilities, jobs and education.

The results show the region is lagging behind the national average in a series of tests. But the regional crime rate is far lower than in the rest of the country, with the region suffering only around half the number of violent crimes, sexual offences, car crimes and burglaries and less than a quarter of the number of robberies found in the country as a whole.

Average gross weekly earnings in 2000 were £299, more than £30 less than the national norm. And many of our rural communities suffer from "a lack of social capital", caused by the loss of local services and closure of community facilities.

Only 72pc of parishes have a pub, 3pc below the national average. Less than 80pc have a place of worship compared to the national average of 92pc and out of these only 37pc have a resident minister or cleric, compared to 49pc for the rest of the country.

And the region loses out even when compared to the rest of rural England, with less access to basic services such as doctors' surgeries, primary schools, banks, post offices and general stores.

The report notes that village shops are being lost, but says innovative schemes are being successful, such as community owned shops. The survey singles out West Burton village shop, near Leyburn, for creating a self-service system and also notes that a shop has re-opened in nearby West Witton after an absence of 12 years. And 94.4pc of rural households live within 2km of a post office, which is slightly higher than the national norm.

The region's farmers were hit hard by foot-and-mouth, with £125m lost in the general economy and a further £125m lost in the tourist industry. But the survey showed farmers are turning to alternative sources of income, with 35pc of farms now involved in diversification