THE Women's Institute's famous "handbagging" of the Prime Minister has helped to transform their image in the region, with new members flocking to join.

The heckling of Tony Blair at the Women's Institute national conference last week has helped the organisation to shake off its "jam and Jerusalem" image and encourage more younger women to take an interest.

Local branches of the WI, which was founded during the First World War, have seen an upsurge in membership inquiries during the past few days.

Pat Shotton, chairman of North Yorkshire East federation of the WI, believes the strong line the organisation took at the conference on issues such as the closure of rural post offices and a campaign for greater funding for children's hospices, has helped to alter the public's perception.

She said: "We have had more enquiries from local people since the national conference. I think people are looking up and saying let's have a look at this and see what its all about. People realise we are a power to be considered and we have got some clout there when we want to get things done.There seems to be a move more towards the young. We are probably getting 30 to 40-year-olds more interested."

The secretary of North-Yorkshire West federation of the WI, Marilyn Goldthorpe, has also noticed an increase in numbers of women calling the office to find out how they can join their local group.

She said : "We have had more than the expected number of inquiries following the speech. However, the profile of the WI has risen dramatically since we published the calendar featuring the nude ladies, so the new rise could be a combination of both those things."

Dorothy Proud, chairman of Durham County federation, said it was too early to say whether more women had joined, but media coverage of the conference had helped to update the WI's image.

She said: "We are looking forward, not backwards, and hope that is the impression we are giving."