A GOVERNMENT "sheriff" has been brought in to sort out a row between national park chiefs and self-styled cowboy Django.

The inspector is heading a public inquiry into alleged breaches of planning rules on Django's farm, near Thwaite, in Swaledale.

The Hungarian horseman, whose real name is Martin Kiss, converted a barn into a tack room without planning permission.

He also built a training ring and started living in a caravan on the site where he has opened Swaledale Ponies, a Western-style riding school.

Members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority ruled the developments broke planing regulations.

Django appealed and the inquiry will now decide the fate of the riding centre.

If the ruling goes against Django, who is defending himself during the hearing, he could be ordered to remove the caravan and training ring and remove doors and windows from the barn.

The inquiry is scheduled to finish tomorrow after the inspector has made a site visit to the farm.

It could then be several months before a decision is announced.

Political refugee Django, who was named after jazz musician Django Reinhardt by locals, left Hungary nearly 20 years ago.

He discovered Thwaite by accident during an 18-month horseback tour of Britain six years ago, when he also taught himself how to ride like a cowboy.

While following the Pennine Way on his horse Gypsy, he took a wrong turn into the village.