The well-supported opening September shows for prime cattle and lambs at Skipton Auction Mart saw all three champions bought by West Yorkshire butchers and the best entry of the year to date for lambs.

Red Rose breeder Jimmy Baines, of Trawden, near Colne, secured the pick of the prime cattle with his 13-month-old British Blue-cross youngster, which sold for the top price in show of £1,079.

The animal went to Nick Dalby, on behalf of James and Victoria Robertshaw, of Keelham Hall Farm Shop at Thornton, Bradford.

Mrs Robertshaw said: "Wherever possible, we strive to keep food miles down to a minimum, which has a beneficial impact on the local economy by encouraging people to both produce and purchase food locally."

A total of 3,634 prime lambs passed through the ring and North Craven sheep farmer Richard Frankland, of New Hall Farm, Rathmell, won his third prime lambs championship in as many months.

His pen of five 40-kilo Beltex cross lambs sold for show-topping price of £88 per head (220p per kilo) to show judge Mick Etherington, buying on behalf of Mark Spauls Butchers, for his two shops in Main Street, Burley-in-Wharfedale, and The Parade, Cottingley.

The annual Rare and Native Breeds Stockbreeder Auctions at Skipton also proved a success, with crowds turning out in their droves for the popular show and sale of rare, minority and traditional breeds

In the Wensleydales show, supreme champion was a shearling ram from the Leyburn flock of Jack Watkinson, based at Hutton Ghyll, Burton Constable. The ram had been second in its class at the Great Yorkshire Show and sold for 130 guineas to Fred Sunderland, of Wadsworth, Hebden Bridge.

The female and reserve supreme champion came from the Elliott family of Ferrensby, Knaresborough, and sold for 500 guineas to Mr and Mrs Orkney, of Manor Farm, Carperby in Upper Wensleydale, who bought the shearling gimmer as part of their foundation flock of Wensleydales.

At Gisburn Auction Mart's August sale outstanding heifer Newfold Hillcrest Geum topped the sale of pedigree dairy cattle at £2,480.

The heifer at just two years and three months old, attracted a great deal of attention for the vendors P T & M R Critchley, of Wrea Green, near Preston, and eventually went to H Bradley & Son, of Salterforth, Colne.

The mart's second sale of gimmer shearlings of the season saw prices peak at £92 for both Texel and Mule gimmer shearlings from Tim Jackson, of Goosnargh, near Preston. Taking home both pens of Texel and Mule shearlings was N W & J M Coulthurst & Son, of Goosnargh.