NORTH Yorkshire's rural residents are being driven out of their own communities by soaring house prices, a report has revealed.

The Countryside Agency's State of the Countryside 2002 report says less affordable housing to rent and buy has become a major problem.

The highest average house price in the county was found to be £156,000 in the North York Moors.

The agency has developed a "mortgage index" which shows that in seven out of eight English regions rural homes are much less affordable than in urban areas.

"A significantly higher proportion of rural people (57 per cent) would have to commit more than half their income to mortgage costs - nearly double that of urban residents (32 per cent)," explained agency chairman Ewen Cameron.

"This is a major hurdle for new households and those on less than average wages."

Paul Johnston, from the agency, lives in Stillington, near York, and has first-hand experience of the problem.

"I know of one family in the village, their children are grown up and they want them to return to the village," he said.

"But they have not been able to find a home they can afford because everything is so expensive

"The sorts of people moving into the village are well-off people who either commute to York or Leeds or people who acquire property as second homes.

"This can be a concern because these people are not living in these second homes for much of the year and do not get involved in village life."

Jackie Fearnley, who lives with her family in Goathland, said second homes were a major problem in the North York Moors.

"There is no affordable housing for young families which is damaging to the local school - people with young children simply can't afford to live here," she said.

But Maisie Storey, who retired to her second home in Rosedale in the Moors, said the matter was improving.

"A lot of people like me retire to their second homes. I have become involved in the local community, I am now the local parish clerk," she said.

Updated: 11:07 Tuesday, May 28, 2002