A TINY Dales primary school which lost thousands of pounds for community work because of foot and mouth disease has been recompensed with a £5,000 cheque.

Kettlewell Primary School in Upper Wharfedale is also used as a community centre by local villagers for activities like IT training but its main funding comes from a unique Dales event: the annual Kettlewell Scarecrow Show.

Local people, mainly children, make hundreds of scarecrows in different costumes and the event attracts hundreds of visitors whose cash boosts community funds.

This summer, the event was cancelled because of FMD - and the school lost several thousand pounds worth of income for new building work and equipment.

Today, the Dales Recovery Appeal, set up to help individuals, small businesses and voluntary groups in the wake of FMD, announced that is was granting the school £5,000 to continue its community work.

Said an appeal spokesman: "One of our key aims is to help voluntary groups whose work does so much to improve the quality of life in small, often isolated, Dales communities. We are delighted to be able to help Kettlewell school make up its losses."

The appeal is seeking applications for grants from people in the area of the Archdeaconry of Craven, which spreads from Sedbergh in Cumbria to Denholme, south of Keighley, and west into the Trough of Bowland and the Ribble Valley.

Applications for grants - or donations of cheques made out to the Dales Recovery Fund - should be addressed to: The Appeal Office, 76 Main Street, Addingham, Ilkley LS29 0PD (phone 01943 831660).