A WENSLEYDALE farm, hit by foot-and-mouth disease, could be given a new lease of life if planners can be persuaded to take a relaxed view of their own policies.

The dairy herd at Ashes Farm, on the edge of Hawes, was slaughtered earlier this year after it was identified as a contiguous contact.

With the tenant farmer since retiring, the buildings are empty.

However, they could soon be back in use if the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority agrees to a pony trekking centre on the site.

The farmhouse would be used as accommodation for the manager and staff, while some of the outbuildings would be converted into a bunkhouse for customers and stables for up to 22 horses and ponies.

National Park policies normally dictate that working farm buildings should not be converted for residential use.

However, a report to be tabled when planners meet tomorrow points to the potential of a trekking centre in the area.

The report adds that with the farm buildings redundant, it could be argued they are no longer in active use.