INDEPENDENT family-run butchers were among the leading players at the recent Christmas primestock shows at Skipton mart.

Kitsons Butchers, who have shops in Northallerton, Stockton and Hutton Rudby, made several acquisitions including the champion in the un-haltered prime cattle show classes, a pure-bred 660kg Limousin heifer from Easingwold’s Willie Timm at £1,716.

They also paid £1,690 for the second prize 650kg British Blue heifer from Jim and Christine Scrivin, of Elslack.

In the prime lamb sale, Kitsons also claimed the first prize 53kg Suffolks from Thomas Walmsley, who trades as D&A Livestock in Haverah Park, Harrogate, at £125 each.

Owner Anthony Kitson has this year also bought the supreme champions at the English Winter Fair, the Scottish Winter Fair and the Royal Welsh Winter Fair. It is thought to be the first time a single butcher has claimed such a coup.

Anthony Swales, York farmer and butcher, also made multiple award-winning acquisitions for his Knavesmire Butchers shop in Albermarle Road.

In the lamb carcase show and sale, he paid second top price of £200 for the first prize 35-40kg Continental class winner and reserve supreme champion from Hannah Brown of Leyburn.

The Brown family won, who were also lamb carcase champions for the previous two years and this year’s near pure Beltex-cross wether was by the same Green Tag ram responsible for their 2014 and 2015 victors. It had a liveweight of 38kg, 22.3kg deadweight, with a killing out percentage of 58.6 per cent and a grade of E3L.

Hannah Brown was also second in the under 35kg Continental class which also sold to Mr Swales.

The hill lamb champions were a trio of 52kg Scotch Blackfaced lambs from Ken Flintoff, of Egton Bridge, which sold for £115 per head to Skipton meat wholesaler, Swaledale Foods.

Whitby’s Mike Allen was reserve hill champion with his 57kg Masham trio, which sold for £110 each, and also had the second prize untrimmed 46kg lambs, which sold for £130 per head.

Kendalls Farm Butchers, of Pateley Bridge and Harrogate, paid £1,612 for the reserve female champion in the prime cattle show, a 652kg Limousin shown jointly by Janet Sheard, of Huddersfield, and Stephen and Nicola Jowett, of Bradford, which was bred by Mark Harriman and Sarah Warriner of Pickering.