A YORKSHIRE farm-based business with customers as far apart as Canada and New Zealand has opened a shop closer to home.

The garments produced by Island Heritage are made from the wool of native rare breed sheep, including those bred on their own 25 acres at Pott Hall Farm, which stands above Leighton reservoir near Healey, Masham.

The business is owned by Mr John Webb and his wife, Penelope, who opened a shop on the farm some seven years ago.

Now they also have a shop in the centre of Leyburn called Dress Island Heritage.

"We wanted another focus to the farm business," said Mrs Webb. "We did not want to be too far from the farm but did want another outlet.

"We have built up a strong clientle internationally from the farm but felt we should get a strong local customer base - and not just tourists."

The Webbs did have a shop in Masham for about 18 months but its position was not ideal and they closed it on December 31.

They quickly found the new spot in Leyburn - at the top of the market place - and have already attracted a lot of interest in the two weeks since opening.

The business deals only in garments made from natural unbleached fibres, including silks, cottons and alpaca. Nothing is dyed or treated.

"We have 120 people in Yorkshire working for us," said Mrs Webb.

"There are 80 knitters and the rest are in tailoring and design."

Island heritage sells women's suits, jackets, skirts and knitwear along with men's jackets, hats and caps. Jumpers, accessories and even soft furnishings and gifts are all made from completely natural fibres.

Mr Webb was a chemist and the couple were always concerned about the environment and treatments used in various processes.

"I started to think about dyes because a lot of them can cause asthma and things," said Mrs Webb.

The couple took up organic farming and everything else grew from that.

The sheep they breed at Pott Hall play an important part in a programme of conservation and have the full backing of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

They actually breed the black-fleeced Hebridean; brown wool Manx Loghtan; grey and white North Ronaldshay and the multi-coloured Shetland.

Their own farm is only small and so the Webbs buy in wool from 80 other farms. It is all chosen for its rich and varied colour and lustre.

The Webbs use six or seven tonnes of wool a year.

The fleeces are sorted, washed without the use of bleach or chemicals, and spun before being crafted into knitwear or woven into cloth which is not only good for making garments, but also for rugs and craft goods.

The couple also have a mobile trading unit and each year used to visit some 26 agricultural shows from the Royal Bath and Western to the Highland.

Now, with the two shops, a mail order service and the overseas trade, they are cutting the number of shows to ten.

So far they do not sell items as being produced from organic wool because the quantity is not there. "But more and more farms are becoming organic so there might be sufficient in a couple of years," said Mrs Webb.