ORGANISERS of a six-mile run, which attracts competitors from across the North, have changed the route to protect a 500-strong herd of deer from foot-and-mouth disease.

The animals roam free in Studley Royal Park at the World Heritage Site, which leads to the ruins of Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, North Yorkshire.

But organisers of the annual Jolly Holly Jog, which normally takes runners through the heart of the deer park, have diverted the route.

It is the first time in the run's 13 years that a diversion has been made, but organisers said they wanted to protect the deer from the small risk still posed by the disease.

Ripon Runners' membership secretary Peter Carver said: "The risk might be very low, but we did not want to take any chances.

"We always contact the National Trust each year ahead of the run because we want to maintain good relations with them."

The trust had asked organisers to avoid the deer park and they have arranged a one-and-a-half-mile diversion.

Mr Carver, a farm worker at Baldersby St James, near Ripon, is not taking part in the event because of injury, but he expects the last 40 places to be snapped up soon.

The deer are a popular tourist attraction in the 360-acre park, once visited by the Queen Mother when her friends, the Vyner family, owned the Studley Estate.

Entries for the run close on Monday. Details are available on (07050) 311579.