A FARMER has solved a staffing crisis by bringing in robots to milk his cows.

Robert Moore spent £500 advertising for workers to milk his herd of 120 pedigree Guernseys, but had no takers.

Then Mr Moore, who farms at High Jervaulx, near Masham, North Yorkshire, and produces Brymor ice cream, went to see a friend who had installed robotic milking machines.

"I only planned to be half-an-hour, but three hours later I was still there - I couldn't believe it," he said.

"I went home and told my wife and she said, 'don't be so stupid, machines can't milk cows', so we both went back and stared in amazement."

Two robots were soon installed and Mr Moore began training the cows to use the equipment.

Previously, the cows would be milked twice a day, but the robots can milk 24 hours a day.

For the first few days, cows were woken in the middle of the night and taken in to be milked.

By the end of the first week, the animals had begun to learn the new schedule and now go into the parlour of their own accord.

Mr Moore said the system had given him more leisure time and fewer staffing worries.

The only downside is he is effectively on call 24-hours a day, if there is a problem. However, if a fault does occur, the robots have been programmed to ring his wife, Diane's mobile phone first.