ORGANISERS of the Great Yorkshire Show have said the number of exhibitors at the show will be "record-breaking".

On Tuesday, July 9, the Harrogate Showground will be taken over by the 161st iteration of the show and three-day event, which has become widely regarded as the leading agricultural event in England.

The show, usually packed with entertainment, farming demonstrations, cattle races and farm food, is held in the town each year, attracting people in their thousands.

However, Great Yorkshire Show organisers have said they have yet again broken the show's record of exhibitors, with 12,913 entering across 21 categories of this year's show.

The last time the record was set was in 2014, when organisers received 12,847 exhibitor entries.

Great Yorkshire Show director, Charles Mills, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have record numbers of exhibitors here at the Great Yorkshire Show this year.

"We can’t wait to welcome them to the Showground next week for what is set to be a terrific three days of competitions and celebrations of the farming industry.”

The sections that have seen the record number of entries include cattle classes, with 1,247 entries across beef and dairy, 2,597 entries in the sheep class, 241 entries into sheep shearing and 801 in the honey category.

In this year's Great Yorkshire Show, bosses will also host three national cattle breed competitions, the Longhorn Cattle Society's National Show, UK Beef Shorthorn Championships and the National Charolais Show.

The agricultural secretary Robert Goodwill is also expected to be attending the show on Tuesday, with The Duke of York expected to make an appearance on the penultimate day.

An arsenal of international visitors working in agriculture from the Netherlands and Belgium will also attend, as part of a visit from a major travel company.

A further group of about 50 people from the Royal Agricultural Committee of the Kanton Kruishoutem will visit, as part of their own agricultural expedition to the UK.

It was recently confirmed that organisers had anticipated more than 130,000 visitors from across the world were due to turn out.

At the same time, it was revealed that the show would be filmed as part of a two-part series, Today At The Great Yorkshire Show on Channel 5, presented by Anita Rani.

The programme will also feature Julian Norton and Peter Wright from The Yorkshire Vet, who will join the television coverage alongside Rani.

Speaking at the time of the announcement, Mr Mills said: "This is not only tremendous publicity but will also give an insight into the organisation that goes into delivering such a large-scale event as well as the wonderful people involved in making it the iconic show it is today."