Saving the family farm

Champagne celebrations as Ford Hall Farm is saved

You may remember we brought you the story in February of Charlotte and Ben Hollins, who were fighting to save the family's organic farm.

The brother and sister, who are 21 and 23 years old, were given until July 1 to raise £800,000 needed for Ford Hall Farm in Market Drayton, Shropshire.

The farm was one of the first in the country to go organic. If they failed to raise the cash, the land was likely to be sold to developers.

Charlotte and Ben needed a lot of cash - pretty quickly - to avoid losing their livestock and their livelihoods.

With just one day to go before the deadline to raise the money, Breakfast's Susannah Streeter returned to the farm to hear the happy news that more than enough cash has been raised. Charlotte and Ben were celebrating with champagne.

The farm has been saved by members of the public buying shares in a charity, which in turn buys the land and then leases it on to Charlotte and Ben, whose family have been farming the same land for a century.

Among those who have invested money in the project is the rock star Sting.