A GROUP set up to help struggling smallholders in North Yorkshire has become a major voice for an army of enterprises in five other counties.

Set up by Roger and Pat Walker at their home in Pickhill near Thirsk, the North Yorkshire Smallholders Society now has 218 members, many of them breeders of rare stock.

"Our workload has increased significantly as a result of the foot-and-mouth outbreak", said secretary Pat who with her oil-rig worker husband Roger, the chairman, rears Black Wensleydales and Shetland sheep, geese, ducks and a Shetland pony on a five-acre holding.

The society was formed after the couple discovered that Pickhill has no fewer than 18 smallholders. Once they set up, membership grew. It has spread to Lancashire, Cheshire, County Durham, Lincolnshire and Northumberland.

The society is going to promote its members' products to boost their income, and has produced a livestock catalogue to sell or replace stock.

Supported by Farmway, the society has seen its activities expand in recent months, not least campaigning for local abattoirs, which are able to take small numbers of stock.

It is also promoting courses on sheep shearing, lambing and calving at Askham Bryan College.

Mr and Mrs Walker can be contacted on (01845) 567471