THE tenth anniversary of Open Farm Sunday saw a record-breaking 250,000 people visit a farm at the weekend.

Mark and Jane Gray, of Broom House Farm, Witton Gilbert, near Durham City, took part for the ninth year in a row and welcomed more than 800 visitors. They also host 100 free educational visits to schools and groups each year.

Visitors saw hens and hay meadows, pigs and sheep, took trailer rides to see Aberdeen Angus cows with the bull, sheep dog demonstrations, machinery displays and sheep-shearing demonstrations from Duncan and Angus Nelles, of Thistleyhaugh Farm, Longhorsley, near Morpeth.

Farm staff and volunteers gave up their Sunday to enable people to have an enjoyable day in the countryside, learning about farming and the story behind their food. Visitors travelled from as far as Yarm and Whitley Bay.

LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), the national organisers, paid tribute to more than 400 farmers who opened their gates to the public.

Annabel Shackleton, Open Farm Sunday manager, said: "Our tenth Open Farm Sunday has been a resounding success and a fantastic celebration of British farming and food. We’re particularly delighted so many families took the time to visit farms up and down the country, many for the first time."

Farming Minister George Eustice, who joined Caroline Drummond, LEAF’s chief executive, on a tour of Park Farm, Westerham, said: "This initiative is a fantastic way of raising awareness of the essential role farming plays in all our lives, helping everyone learn more about where food comes from and inspiring young people to consider a rewarding career in farming."

Across social media the Open Farm Sunday hashtag, #OFS15 was the UK’s third top trending topic on Twitter on Sunday morning. Nearly 1.5m people had seen the hashtag in the month prior to the day and over the past seven days the Open Farm Sunday Facebook page reached nearly 150,000 people.