FARMER Mr Richard Davies has turned his back on farming in the hope of pursuing a new career in IT.

Mr Davies, who is 27 and from Hurworth Moor, Darlington, said the crisis in agriculture left him with no alternative but to look for something else.

"It was a hard decision to make, as I enjoyed working within the farming industry," he said. "However, with the success that has grown from the internet and the use of computers in the workplace, I decided that IT was an area which I would like to pursue further.

He has undertaken a variety of self-study IT courses over the past few months at Newton Aycliffe-based Vision Training and he has now achieved one of the company's highest pass rates and possibly one of the top grades nationally by gaining an impressive 100pc, or 1000/1000, in various Microsoft Office user specialist 2000 examinations.

He chose that course because it gave the opportunity to add other learning modules leading to becoming a certified systems engineer.

Mr Davies previously had only a general understanding of computers, gained while studying agricultural science at Edinburgh university.

Mrs Jean Thompson, sales director at Vision Training, congratulated him on doing so well in his examinations. "He is a fine example of how candidates can use training courses to their advantage and go on to greater success," she said.

Mr Davies is now looking for a job. He can be contacted on 01325 282189.