ORGANISERS of Friday’s (August 18) Dunster Show have been congratulated by West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger for staging ‘an outstanding event’ to mark its 175th anniversary.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said this year’s show was the equal of any one-day event in the country.

And, he said, it was clear from the attendance figures that it was proving an ever more popular family day out.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said apart from the high quality of the livestock which was being judged, the event was clearly acting as a showcase for all the other attractions Exmoor had to offer, from food and drink to craft products.

He said: “Shows such as Dunster will always offer a chance for local farmers to have a rare day off to spend with their families.

“But it only took a moment to look around the crowds and realise that the overwhelming majority were non-farming families.

“And that is where outstanding shows such as Dunster have such a vital role to play in acting as an interface between British agriculture and the consumer.

“People are increasingly turning to shows like this not merely to buy high-quality food products but to learn and understand more about where their food comes from and how it is produced.

“And at a time when we are trying to reduce our reliance on food imports and grow and raise more of what we eat within our own frontiers, that is a very valuable role for shows such as Dunster to be playing.”

This year’s show also drew praise from people who attended and found traffic problems which previously been a feature on local roads appeared to have been resolved with an additional entrance to the showground off the A396 to reduce the numbers of vehicles using the A39.

One Free Press reader said: “Not only was the show this year particularly good, but the organisation of the access was spectacularly improved.” Another said it was ‘much easier’ to get into the show this year with the new entrance.

And a third person praised the showground’s ‘excellent parking attendants’ for helping motorists.