A GROUP of farmers' wives in West Devon will be improving their IT skills thanks to a £21,000 grant from Devon County Council.

More than 80 women, all members of holiday group Devon Farms Accommodation, have signed up for in-house training involving over 250 individual course units.

Devon Farms chairman Jackie Payne welcomed the extra funding, made possible by the South West Regional Development Agency.

She said: 'Individually, many members have already obtained a high level of expertise in database management, website design and

e-mail handling, but collectively we are just at the beginning of an exciting new phase of integrated computing, whereby members use their own computers to update a central system with details such as room availability and special offers, on a real-time basis.

'The grant will be used to give everyone the chance to reach the necessary level for such an enterprise.'

The NFU's regional director, Anthony Gibson, a patron of Devon Farms, described the project as unique: 'Not only because it is the first time a completely farmer-run holiday co-operative has been allocated such funding, but because the group is going to use its own members who are already experienced in particular IT fields to run courses for other members — on a one-to-one basis if necessary.

'Such an approach should encourage even the most reticent member to take the plunge into IT.'

Devon Farms says the importance of individual farm accommodation operators to be able to receive e-mails has never been greater.

One legacy of the foot and mouth crisis is that it has accelerated the tendency by the public to book last-minute and the preferred method is the internet — one farm which only became computerised in the spring now receives three out of four enquiries as e-mails.

Devon Farms is a co-operative of more than 100 working family farms offering bed and breakfast or self-catering holidays.

Local members of Devon Farms include Knole Farm, Little Bidlake Barns and Week Farm at Bridestowe; Hele Farm, Rubbytown Farm and Colcharton Farm at Gulworthy; Beera Farm, Milton Abbot; The Cider House, Lifton, and Eggworthy Farm, Sampford Spiney.