The Yorkshire Dales has won the National Park of the Year award in the BBC Countryfile Magazine annual poll.

The magazine said 56,000 votes were cast across 12 categories, with the National Park award being one of the most popular contests.

It said readers had displayed great affection for a “wild and craggy limestone landscape, replete with waterfalls and hay meadows, stone villages and broadleaved woodland”.

“It’s clear that thousands of voters have fond memories of time spent here,” it said, noting that the park had recently expanded to cover 840 square miles.

Carl Lis, chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said: “This is an excellent result for the Yorkshire Dales. I can only agree wholeheartedly with Countryfile readers and viewers.

"The Yorkshire Dales is an area of amazing contrasts; it can be raw, grey, awesome or sweetly beautiful.Everyone who lives in the park and helps to manage the land, not least our farmers, should take pleasure from this award, and perhaps even afford themselves a little pat on back. And to everyone who visits the park and promotes the understanding and enjoyment of it, thank you. Come again soon."