Michael Spink honoured with Great Yorkshire Show trophy

Michael Spink was working in New Zealand when he died

A new trophy in memory of a North Yorkshire farmer is to be presented at this year's Great Yorkshire Show.

Michael Spink, 24, died in an accident in New Zealand in January.

The 24-year-old member of Knaresborough Young Farmers has been honoured by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society with an accolade in his name.

The Michael Spink Memorial Perpetual Trophy will be presented at the 159th Great Yorkshire Show on 11 July. The event attracts about 130,000 visitors.

The cup is to be given to the winner of the Ayrshire Heifer Champion exhibit.

Jane Spink, his mother, said: "Mike absolutely loved the Great Yorkshire Show and he would have loved to have had his name on an Ayrshire trophy.

"This is something really positive for us and we are so honoured to have a trophy dedicated to him."

The Michael Spink Memorial Perpetual Trophy being held by family and friends

Mr Spink had travelled to work on a diary farm in New Zealand in June 2016.

He died when he was hit by a car while walking along State Highway 27 near Matamata in the country's North Island after his car went into a ditch, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The Great Yorkshire Show will be held between 11 and 13 July on the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Show director Charles Mills, said: "It has been incredible to see how the farming community has come together to support Mike's family."