IF EVER there was a tip for the top it's Dennis Vallins' new venture which is destined to reach peaks of which few are capable.

Mr Vallins, 44, of The Croft, Tollerton Road, Huby, near Easingwold, enters the new business category as a high access rope technician.

This climbing fanatic put his Spiderman skills to work last April, offering his services to reach lofty areas. Buoyed by ropes, he has painted pylons, checked tall chimneys, put banners up at football stadiums and more recently, cleared harmful sugar dust from the rafters of a number of British Sugar factories, including York's.

He says that his use of ropes to suspend himself is speedier and cheaper than conventional means of access to tall areas like cranes, scaffolding, or cherry-pickers.

"I just love tall orders," says Dennis who relies heavily for them on his phone - at 01347 810992.