ALTHOUGH foot-and-mouth precautions have closed the footpaths of East Cleveland and the North York moors, Nell the sheepdog has still been able to walk - in her village hall.

Nell, whose two films Nell's View of the North York Moors and Nell's Coast have sold nearly 6,000 copies worldwide, needed to record some audio for her third film, Nell's Curious Yorkshire.

For a sequence where she walks through The World of James Herriot in Thirsk and samples the old examination table, the soundtrack needed sounds of her feet on a wooden floor. The best place to recreate the atmosphere was Moorsholm memorial hall.

The film's producer, Nell's "man", Mr Graeme Aldous, explained that it was more difficult to get an authentic sound than he expected.

"I first tried to get her to walk round the hall while I recorded her footsteps, but the sound kept getting further away," he said. "If I walked alongside her you could hear my steps as well."

The problem was solved with a radio microphone. Nell had to wear her winter overcoat with a transmitter unit taped to it. The microphone was clipped to her collar then, as she walked around the hall, it picked up both the clicking of her claws and the jingle of the name tag on her collar. The sound was then married to the video footage.

"I don't think Nell was very happy about it, though," said Mr Aldous. "She was hot with her coat on and the weight of the transmitter pulled it to one side, but we got the sound effect we wanted. She's a real trouper."

Nell's latest film was due to have been finished in time for Easter. But the foot-and-mouth closure of the hills has prevented the last few sequences being filmed.