A Darwen farm has claimed a sought-after 'double top' at an auction market's latest show and sale.

Husband and wife David and Laura Coar, of Yew Tree Farm, had a successful day at CCM Skipton Auction Mart on Monday, August 5, when they brought their lambs to market.

Spring-born prime lambs are a speciality of the Coars, and the August show and sale was no different.

They claimed the championship prize at the auction, and also picked up the reserve champions prize too for a 'double top' in the show arena.

They brought two five-strong pens of Beltex-x lambs to market, with the 43kg victors going for £164 per head, and the 46kg runners-up going for £173 per animal, selected by Nick Dalby.

The lambs were named championsThe lambs were named champions (Image: CCM Skipton Auction Mart)

Both pens were sold to Vivers Scotlamb, a meat wholesaler based in Dornock, Dumfries and Galloway.

The Beltex, an offshoot of the Dutch Texel breed, is a heavily muscled domesticated sheep that has been refined in the UK since the 1980s, with their primary use being for mating to produce lambs for meat.

The wins back up a reserve champions rosette picked up by the Coars in July.

There was a big turnout at Skipton Auction Mart, in Gargrave Road, Skipton, with 2,102 new season lambs brought by farmers across Yorkshire and Lancashire.

They were generally a similar trade, averaging £3.16 per kilo, but with more lightweight lambs in the entry prices per head were £2 down on the week to £135.50.

The next sale of prime lamb and sheep is on Monday, August 12.