THE day-to-day activities of the humble sheepdog were displayed on the big stage yesterday at a top national event.

Competitors from the North-East and North Yorkshire were among dozens to take part in the English National Sheepdog Trials at Allerton Park, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

This year's fierce competition has also featured a landmark, with Mary Heaton becoming the first woman judge in the event's 96-year history to cast an eye over the entrants.

The three-day contest comes to an end tomorrow, when the top 15 dogs, from 150 entrants, will be chosen to represent England at an international show later in the year.

Yesterday, Jane Simpson, of Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire, was among the owners hoping that their dogs would clinch a place in the line-up.

The secretary of the International Sheepdog Society, Philip Hendry, said: "We are very pleased with the way it is going. It is a glorious setting, with lakes and trees all around and it has attracted very good crowds."