WILLIAM, Jack and Polly — the three Suri alpacas brought to the show by John and Rosalind Pugh of Sampford Spiney — each caught the eye of the judges as they collected a rosette each from the fawn and white classes.

John and Rosalind, who were completely bitten by the alpaca bug when they started keeping these unusual looking animals in 2003, now have a herd of 39, including 12 pregnant females.

John said: 'I was hoping William would get a first, but it was a big class. He was well-spoken about though, and he got reserve champion.'

With beautiful brown eyes and long eyelashes, alpacas are alert animals who like to be part of a herd.

John said: 'They are wild animals, essentially, but they will get used to you, and to being handled, so you can show them. The minimum you should ever have is two, as they like to be together — when we put ours all out together they really enjoy it.'

Alpacas come from the same family as llamas and orginate from Peru. Unlike llamas, which were used as pack animals, alpacas have been prized for their soft fleece. There are two types of alpaca — Huacaya, which has a crimped-looking fleece, and Suri, whose fleece hangs in uniform locks.

John and Rosalind use the fleece from their alpacas to create knitting wool and a range of goods, including scarves, blankets, teddies and reversible waistcoats.

The couple try and keep the provenance of their goods as local as possible, using a weaver based in Bovey Tracey.

They are currently building up their stock in time for the Christmas market.