CLEVER Trevor, the death-defying turkey, was the guest of honour at the official reopening of a North Yorkshire lake which was closed by the foot and mouth crisis.

Farmer Colin Newlove decided there was no better celebrity to open the popular fishing lake on his land at Low Marishes, near Pickering.

The plucky bird hit the headlines last year when he avoided a turkey's traditional Christmas fate by walking a farmyard tightrope and leaping through a hoop of fire.

Trevor hitched a tractor ride before taking a boat trip on the lake, which reopens this Saturday after being shut for more than a year.

Mr Newlove said: "There have been some grand weights caught in the lake over the years, and we have some beautiful species this time around."

Experts are already predicting one of the best seasons ever for anglers, thanks to bumper stocks and favourable weather.

Updated: 11:00 Wednesday, March 20, 2002