Molly was chosen as a mascot by dairy farmer Eddie Andrew after he and his wife Madeline decided to set up ice cream business Our Cow Molly in July last year.

All of Mr Andrew's other cattle are black and white, and he said it was a strange quirk of nature for a white cow to have a calf which also has virtually no markings.

He said: "Last July, because the milk price was so poor, we decided to go into making ice cream and Molly was the perfect mascot because she is pure white. But we were amazed when the calf was born.

"Molly must have a very strong pure white gene, because the only marking on the calf is a tinge of black on the ear. We have never seen anything like it in the 60 years we have been farming."

Mr Andrew set up Our Cow Molly after he started losing money on the milk he was selling to supermarkets. He won fourth place in the National Ice Cream Competition last year.

The family farm is at Dungworth, north-west of Sheffield