HUNDREDS of North-East farmers have agreed to help improve the countryside by applying to join the Government's Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

A further 240 applications have been received from farmers keen to join the scheme.

Countryside Stewardship is one of Defra's (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) principal environmental grant schemes and encourages farmers to adopt environmentally sensitive land management methods with the aim of enhancing landscape, encouraging wildlife and protecting historical features.

Almost 900 farmers and landowners across the region have already signed stewardship agreements.

Neil Tulloch, Countryside Stewardship adviser at Defra's Rural Development Service North-East, said: "The Countryside Stewardship Scheme has already proved a very successful way of helping people to adopt a more sustainable system of farming, which not only benefits the farmer but the environment and wider rural economy.

"We're delighted so many more farmers have recognised these benefits and have applied for stewardship."

For more information about the schemes, contact Defra's Rural Development Service North-East on 0191-229 5500.