A GROUP aiming to restore an 18th Century mill has more than doubled in numbers after the project was highlighted on national television.

Gayle Mill, near Hawes, in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, came third in the final of BBC TV's Restoration programme last month.

Since then, more than 100 people have signed up with the Friends of Gayle Mill supporters' group.

Chairman Peter Burrage said: "We've now got 250 members and I'm still getting e-mails and letters as a result of the programme.

"I thought it would have died down by now, but I'm delighted it hasn't.

"It's taken us a little by surprise. We never really knew there would be this amount of interest and it's good to know that what we're trying to do is what's really wanted."

Nearly £900,000 has already been raised towards the £1.2m project to return the 250-year-old water mill to working order.

The plan is to make the building a viable commercial sawmill, as well as a visitor centre.

One recent set-back for campaigners is the news that one of the walls at the mill has become unstable. Experts from the mill's owners, the North-East Civic Trust, are assessing the problem.

The mill was built in 1776 as a cotton factory and by 1826 was processing flax and wool.