THE crowds turned out for a popular agricultural show yesterday, despite the lack of livestock and unseasonable weather.

Organisers of Egton Show, in Egton Village, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, said visitors had not been put off by changes to the usual schedule.

The show is one of the county's largest agricultural events, and is renowned for the quality and large number of its sheep classes.

All livestock classes had to be cancelled following the ban on animal movements in the wake of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in Surrey, but the show committee was determined the event would go ahead.

Show chairman Nick Gallon said: "It was very disappointing that we could not have any cattle, sheep or goats, but the Defra restrictions are there for a reason, and we have to abide by them.

"We normally have a tremendous amount of sheep. The numbers of cattle have been dwindling over the years, but we still keep them going.

"We have really missed having the goats, though. They are usually a big attraction and the children really like to see them."

The other threat to the show was the weather, but yesterday's early morning fog cleared into cool, blustery conditions.

Mr Gallon said: "At 7am, the mist was rolling in, but by 9am it started to clear and by 10am, it was a little brighter and the sun was starting to break through.

"Since then, it has gone really well and the crowds came flooding in."

The show gave out more than 150 trophies and £10,000 in prize money.

In the main ring, there were parades by two local hunts, a display of dog agility and show-jumping. A parade of vintage tractors was popular, as was a display of threshing.

The champion heavy horse was the mare Acle Delma, owned by the Bedford family of Escrick, near York.