TODAY a team of eight officials from Defra is in North Yorkshire, continuing a visit which began yesterday.

They were invited by the Federation of Small Businesses for a fact-finding mission to study the impact of environmental regulations on businesses and farms.

Among the businesses they are visiting on their two-day tour are the Wensleydale Creamery, and rope manufacturers, Outhwaite and Sons, Hawes; Dales Shoes, Richmond; several farms, an abattoir, a water treatment works and a landfill site.

The officials will hear first hand accounts of how some struggle to meet EC-driven environmental regulations.

The visit was organised by the chairman of the FSB's 450-member Dales branch, Peter Pybus, a Thornton-le-Moor seed grain merchant who was invited to London last month to discuss with Defra officials the impact of environmental regulations on small enterprises.

Mr Pybus also sits on the FSB's Yorkshire and Humber Area Policy Unit.

"Everybody wants to protect the environment but what is mooted by officials in Brussels or London is often with little understanding of the difficulties facing rural enterprises," he said.

"These Defra officials have soon to go to Brussels to discuss the possible impact of new legislation in the UK and, at our meeting in London, I suggested that they came up to North Yorkshire to meet people who run rural businesses.

"I said that this would help them to go to Brussels armed with practical knowledge about running a rural business at the sharp end and that they would represent us all the better for it. We are delighted they have agreed to come."

Among environmental issues in rural areas which concern Defra are the disposal of farm waste, such as sheep dips, nitrates in soil, silage effluent, and chemical and other waste disposal by rural businesses.

However, Mr Pybus said a major issue worrying the FSB was the cost of environmental liability insurance which was becoming prohibitive for small rural businesses, or almost impossible to obtain.

"While we fully support moves to protect the environment, they must be practical," he said. "One of our members, an abattoir, must regularly pay £400 a load for liquid waste to be taken 30 miles by tanker to be disposed of - a huge burden for a small business.

"For small businesses, this adds hugely to their running costs after two of the toughest-ever years for rural enterprises with foot-and-mouth and the subsequent decline in tourism.

"After this visit, we hope Defra will understand some of these issues far better."