Role of Dales volunteers praised

In the last financial year they put in more than 6,000 days of work on projects led or supported by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA).

Rae Lonsdale, the YDNPA's volunteers co-ordinator, said: "Without them it would be virtually impossible to run some conservation projects and programmes that promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of what is special about the Dales."

Volunteers have worked on jobs including surveying old buildings, repairing footpaths and supporting community environmental projects.

Mr Lonsdale said: "If the work output of a 'volunteer day' was directly comparable to that of a member of staff, the Dales volunteers could be said to add 18 full-time staff equivalents to the work-force.

"The extra 20 per cent they add to the staff resource enables

the authority to deliver rather more than that proportion of additional work – in fact,

several programmes are almost totally dependent on volunteer effort."