FIVE youth hostels in North Yorkshire are in line for a major cash boost to fund urgently-needed repairs, it has been announced.

The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) has secured a total of £250,000 from the Government's Countryside Access Recovery Fund to carry out work at venues throughout England and Wales.

They will include youth hostels at Boggle Hole, on the North York Moors, Hawes, Osmotherley, Malham and Kettlewell.

The cash injection will pay for a series of improvements, ranging from wall repairs at Hawes to roof repairs in Osmotherley.

Charity bosses are delighted with the windfall as the organisation was one of only 12 successful bidders to be unveiled by Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael.

Last year's foot-and-mouth crisis cost the YHA an estimated £5m, but it is now hoped that extra visitors to the Yorkshire dales and moors will help boost its revival.

YHA Yorkshire regional manager, Simon Ainley, said: "The success of YHA's bid to the Countryside Access Recovery Fund is fantastic news for tourists staying at our youth hostels.

"It is also a real boost for the region's rural economy, which took such a battering from foot-and-mouth.

"Visitors are coming back into the countryside and we want to play our part in encouraging them to return year after year in ever increasing numbers. We believe one of the best ways to do that is to provide top quality facilities for our guests."

The recovery fund was set up to help non-profit organisations after the foot-and-mouth crisis and attract people back to the countryside.

Meanwhile, the fight to save Aysgarth youth hostel, in Wensleydale, is continuing. The centre - which welcomes 7,000 people a year - had been earmarked for closure by the YHA earlier this year.

The charity said it had to axe several facilities to balance the books after the crisis.

But the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, North Yorkshire County Council and Richmondshire District Council have all pledged to look into the possibility of securing grants to save it.