A COMPANY in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales could soon be having a worldwide effect on the environment.

Ecoscape Applied Ecologists, in Muker, Swaledale, has won an award from the Department of Trade and Industry for a study into the possibility of creating a "virtual eco-consultant".

The company wants to extend its services by offering a website on the Internet, giving customers the option of accessing information on-line.

Chief executive, Dr David Hill, said: "If someone has a site that they want to develop they will log on to our website, key in a series of questions, about soil or rainfall for instance, and be provided with a set of solutions to their particular query, along with advice on how to obtain further information."