Cumbria's new NFU county chairman, Alistair Mackintosh, will be fighting for a brighter future for young farmers in Cumbria during the next 12 months.

Mr Mackintosh, 45, and his wife Angela, farm at Muncaster Home Farm in Ravenglass.

He takes over the helm of Cumbria NFU during the county inauguration at the Westmorland Hotel in Tebay tonight

Mr Mackintosh grew up on his father's dairy farm in Dumfries and attended West of Scotland Agricultural College after he left school.

Muncaster Home Farm has been farmed by Alistair and his family for 24 years.His farm has 100 cows of which 60pc are calved in the spring to his Charolais bull and 40pc calve in summer to his Limousin bull. He also has 1,000 ewes, predominately North of England mules lambing in late March.

A long-serving member of Bootle and Gosforth's NFU branch, Alistair was elected as its chairman in 2001 and held office for two years. He has also been vice-chairman and deputy chairman of Cumbria NFU.

Outside NFU work, Alistair is a member of Ravenglass Parish Council, serves on the executive committee of his local hunt, is Cumbrian Farming and Rural Business Association chairman and is on the committee for Muncaster Country Fair.

Commenting on his forthcoming year as county chairman, Alistair said: "I would like to see a viable future for young farmers and want to see them getting the opportunities they deserve.

"The legacy I leave as county chairman will be left to young farmers. Therefore I will work closely with them to find out what they require for a prosperous future in agriculture."