The son of the real-life James Herriot is preparing to follow in his father's footsteps by releasing a book about the life of the world's most famous vet.

Jim Wight has written The Real James Herriot, a book which will put the family's side of the great man, following the publication of an unauthorised biography two years ago which raised hackles.

The publication of Graham Lord's book was greeted by objections from the Wight family and some of the townspeople of Thirsk, the real-life home of Herriot, alias Alf Wight.

At the time, Gillian Wight, Alf's daughter-in-law, described Mr Lord's book as "highly inaccurate and unfair".

Mr Wight said the idea for the biography had come from his father's agent.

"I was quite taken aback by the suggestion, because I gave up English at school at the age of 16, but the idea intrigued me," he said.

"While the unauthorised biography was very well researched it naturally fell short of telling the whole truth, and I was fortunate in that I had access to his private papers and his close friends.

"I was more qualified than anyone to write about him because he was my father, my friend, and my professional colleague."

Mr Wight said that by writing about his father, he felt he could share him with other people.

"He was very good to me and a great support for me, and I wanted people to read the book and say 'yes, now I know what the real man was like.

"It's a very personal biography, written from the heart, and is not just an account of his life, but a family biography."

Jim Wight will be at the White Rose Bookshop at Thirsk to sign copies of his authorised biography, which is priced at £20, on Sunday, October 9, from 11am.

The Thirsk bookshop has already been inundated with orders from as far afield as Botswana.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.