THE Great Yorkshire was believed to be the first show in the UK to broadcast the action almost instantly on the internet.

Throughout each afternoon, a web cam relayed pictures from the main ring to the web site so that anyone anywhere in the world could keep up with what was happening.

The images were updated every eight seconds during the live entertainment and included the JCB dancing diggers, the Century of Farming pageant and international show jumping.

Mr David Bentley, managing director of Yorkshire Internet, the Yorkshire agricultural society's internet provider, said: "The society has been at the forefront of taking full advantage of the internet for the last five years. The site went live in 1996 with results and developed from there."