A TRIO of National Farmers Union staff from Ryedale have "smashed" their targets and won top honours in the union’s annual High Achievers Awards.

The three-strong team of NFU group secretaries in Ryedale are Geoff Todd, Rob Hicks and Alan Tate-Smith.

Presenting them with the national achievement award, NFU president Meurig Raymond said: "The team benefitted from a combined experience of more than 60 years coupled with the drive, commitment and willingness to promote the NFU to all farmers in the local area." He added that the "results of the partnership speak for themselves".

The team recruited 62 new members over the last year and increased the number of acres covered by NFU membership by 11,000. As a result they "smashed" both their income and membership targets to claim the top spot in the national performance table.

Mr Todd, commenting after the ceremony, said they were delighted to have had their work recognised.

"It was a wonderful evening and was a great accolade for the whole team at Ryedale. Myself, Rob and Alan were delighted to receive the award, but our success would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of everyone in the office," he said.

"I would also like to thank our loyal members who have supported us for so many years. They deserve a superb service from their NFU group office and that’s what we hope to deliver."