A farmer's wife in Grange-over-Sands hasdreamed up a unique idea to whip up new business by transforming one ofthe barns into an ice-cream parlour, reports Zoe Casson.

Theowners of Holme Farm on Meathop Road, David Lawrence, 45, and his wifeBrenda, 40, have always wanted to expand the farm but there has never beenany land available to buy.

Three years ago the couple decidedto look into diversifying by building on the assets they alreadyhave.

Mr and Mrs Lawrence hand-rear the 110-strong herd ofHolstein cows to sell the milk to a Manchester dairy so came up with theidea of using some of the supplies to make ice-cream.

After ayear of planning, one of the barns has been transformed into an ice-creamparlour and the business has just been launched.

The couplespent more than £9,000 on the ice-cream making equipment and Mrs Lawrence,a trained chef, has completed a specialist training course on how to makeit.

If the business proves successful, Mrs Lawrence hopes itwill create some part-time jobs for people in the village and she is alsoplanning to build a play area and toilet facilities forvisitors.

The mother-of-four said: "We have been trying tothink of a way to expand for a number of years.

We aren'tstruggling but we just wanted to do a little more with the farm, but asthere is no land we could take up near the farm we knew it wasn'tpossible.

"We thought `why not make something with the milkour cows produce' so that's where we got the idea of ice-creamfrom.

We have travelled all around the country to visit otherfarms who do it and some encouraged us and some put us off, but we decidedto go for it.

"We started last Tuesday and it has been reallygood as people are just wandering up the lane and the feedback we aregetting is that the ice-cream is good.

It takes me about threehours to make 25 litres so you can imagine it takes a lot ofcare.

"Just this week I have had a call from Lindal PostOffice asking if they could sell my ice-cream in the shop.

Atthe moment I work in the canteen at Cartmel School but eventually I hopeto give it up.

I also would like to think the business willcreate a couple of jobs for local people as I have already had inquiries."

The ice-cream is available in seven flavours and can bebought by the cone or per litre.

The parlour is open dailyfrom 11am until 5pm.

Although Holme Farm has not been hit byfoot-and-mouth, farmers in Cumbria may well view the ice cream venture asan imaginative example of how farms which have been affected could seek todiversify in future.