A RURAL businessman is back in East Lancashire after jetting to the US to represent British farmers on a vital fact-finding mission.

Simon Barnes, 34, who owns the Bashall Barn Farm Shop and Cafe near Clitheroe, undertook the trans-Atlantic trip on behalf of the British Farm Retailers' Association to see how diversification operates in the States.

He spent seven days looking at farm retail and direct selling operations in North Carolina and is to report back to the association's 400 members.

He said: "Seeing businesses like Bashall Barn in a different environment was certainly an eye-opener, particularly when I turned up at a former dairy farm and spotted a giraffe and rhinoceros.

"The Americans cleverly mix entertainment, education and agriculture, and call it agri-entertainment, although I'm not sure I can see herds of giraffe roaming the Ribble Valley just yet!"

It is not the first time that Simon, who opened his successful farm diversification at the height of the foot and mouth crisis, has acted as a representative of rural businesses.

He was invited to chat to Prince Charles during his visit to the Ribble Valley last month on the opportunities and challenges facing the rural economy.