THE first farm shop in Ripon officially opened its doors at noon yesterday.

The appropriately named Fresh Fields Farm Shop is the brainchild of farmer David Dale and his fiancee Juliet Hall.

It specialises in selling produce from local farms and is also an agent for Lewis & Cooper's celebrated hampers.

The shop is on the site of the former petrol station at the entrance to Ripon auction mart in North Road.

Mr Dale is vice-chairman of the mart and lives at Nunwick Farm, Nunwick, near Ripon. He owns, rents or manages 780 acres on four farms.

Ripon mart has not re-opened since the foot-and-mouth crisis, although Mr Dale believes it should, and when the garage closed he thought it would be ideal as a farm shop.

"I am sure that people want to buy food that is all sourced locally and is of high quality at competitive prices straight from the farm," said Mr Dale.

"This location is ideal and has excellent parking, it is just the place to make it available."

It has taken just four weeks to open the shop since the couple decided to go-ahead with the venture.

Among the goods on offer is meat from Mallard Grange, near Fountains Abbey; Raydale Preserves from near Hawes; Wensleydale Cheese; Just Puds from Masham; smoked products from Mackenzies Smokehouse of Blubberhouses; and honey from Carlton Minniot.

Potatoes, vegetables, sausages and eggs are also available from farms in the countryside around Ripon.

The couple are particularly proud that Lewis & Cooper has appointed them as agents for its hampers.

North Road is still one of the main entrances to Ripon and, despite the bypass, a large volume of traffic passes the shop each day. Mr Dale counted almost 800 vehicles pass by in a two-hour period one tea-time.

"We are in an ideal location and have excellent parking facilities so people can pull up and buy all their produce knowing it is local," said Mr Dale.

The shop is open six days a week and also stocks sandwiches and drinks.

The shop was opened by David Maughan, chairman of the North Riding and Durham NFU.