AN urgent appeal for land is being made by eager gardeners who are unable to create allotments in Thirsk due to a chronic land shortage.

Several requests have been made to Thirsk Town Council by keen locals who want to access land to grow on.

Despite a search by the council over a number of months to try to find land, including asking local landowner John Bell, none has been found.

Councillor Derek Adamson, mayor of Thirsk, said: “We’ve been getting requests for allotments going back many years in Thirsk.

“People are interested in them and if we don’t push forward with looking into this then we’re not doing our job.”

Town councillor Freda Roberts said: “It’s unfortunate that people seem to think we are bound as a council to create allotments.

“We are not bound at all apart from to look into it and it’s not always possibly to provide them.”

There are some allotments at Norby, on the outskirts of Thirsk, owned by Mr Bell but there is a long waiting list for those.

There are also allotments at World’s End, in neighbouring Sowerby, but again there is a waiting list.

The town authority believes a piece of land close to the A19 which is owned by Hambleton District Council could be available.

Concern was voiced by Coun Adamson who felt the area might not be suitable due to the amount of traffic fumes from vehicles on the A19.

Peter Mills, of Thirsk, has spoken twice to the town council about creating allotments plus he has put together a list of people keen to get them.

He said: “To create the allotments you would need quite a large area of land.

“You might not need to put water pipes in as people could have water butts and they will collect the rain to use on the allotment.

“People are screaming out nationwide for allotments and the demand for them is growing fast.

“I think the reason is that basically the recession has hit and people are changing their lifestyle and they are eating healthier foods.”

The town council is appealing to anyone who might have land available for allotments to contact it if they can help.

Details can be passed to Howard Kemp, town council clerk, at 49A Market Place or on 01845-526445.