THE manager of one of the country's smallest youth hostels has told of her determination to save the threatened facility.

Celia Wright is preparing a bid to buy the Ellingstring hostel, near Masham in North Yorkshire.

The 18-bed facility is under threat of closure after the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) tabled a planning application to turn it into a house.

It is one of several hostels throughout the country to have been considered for closure after the YHA announced losses of about £5m as a result of last year's foot-and-mouth crisis.

However, Mrs Wright, who has run the centre for 14 years and lives nearby in the hamlet, has vowed to fight to keep it open. If permission was granted, she would run the hostel on a franchise basis with the YHA, she said.

"I know it is viable, because people love coming here and they want to come back. We are in the midst of beautiful countryside, there's no traffic gridlock and there are many attractions around to visit," she said.

"In addition, the local economy is helped because local pubs and restaurants benefit from the people who stay here."

Mrs Wright said Elling-string was popular with visitors from nearby urban areas, including Leeds, York and Middlesbrough, but also attracted people from the South.

The stone-built hostel, with its beamed ceilings and wood- burning stove, captures the atmosphere of country living amid the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Uncertainty over the future of the remote outpost surfaced after the association announced that the foot-and-mouth epidemic had wiped out a large chunk of its £30m annual turnover.

Mrs Wright has also submitted an application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert and extend a detached garage opposite the Ellingstring hostel for a holiday cottage suitable for disabled people.

A decision is due next month.