A TEMPORARY pedestrian precinct will be created in the countryside so a village can hold its bi-annual fair in the main street.

Residents in Aldfield, near Ripon, will be shutting the road through their community with police blessing for a fair that involves every family in the 150-strong community.

Aldfield has discovered that closing down the road provides the best venue for its bi-annual fair, as stalls spill out from front gardens and visitors walk unhindered by traffic.

Despite the temporary traffic ban, organisers say drivers will be welcomed at a temporary car park.

The event runs from 1.30pm until 4pm on Saturday, July 24. Last year it netted £1,727 and officials are hoping to nudge further towards £2,000 this time.

Aldfield, close to Fountains Abbey, is offering a range of sideshows, stalls and children's games.

Churchwarden Anne Carrick said: "The village used to hold the event over two days. But I think we're all too tired to do that now - so we run it on one day every other year."

The church, which dates from the 1760s and was previously the site for a chapel of ease linked to Fountains Abbey in the 15th Century, needs urgent repairs to its boundary wall, running up a bill of thousands.

"It's a must repair job because it holds up part of the churchyard and if the wall comes down part of the graveyard will come with it," said Miss Carrick.

St Lawrence's Parish Church is a tiny building which holds only 80 people "at a squeeze." It is famous for its box pews and is a Grade II- listed building.

Despite its size, it has been listed among the country's 1,000 best churches in a book published recently by expert Simon Jenkins.