RESIDENTS of a tiny Yorkshire Dales hamlet were celebrating today - with a new for old water supply thanks to a government grant of almost £23,000.

Halton Gill, at the foot of Pen-y-Ghent in Littondale, is too remote to ever have been connected to the mains water supply and for centuries has drawn its tap water from springs high up on the hill.

The supply, however, was subject to fluctuations in both flow and quality so the 30 residents applied for a grant from Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme to install new piping and a small treatment plant, which was being officially declared open today.