ORGANISERS of the Great Yorkshire Show toasted the success of its opening today with a special cocktail for the county.

A bright green concoction, The Yorkshire Dream is the brainchild of Matt Weller, chief barman at The Yorkshire, formerly the Imperial Hotel, in Harrogate.

The cocktail was launched to mark the hotel's support of the show.

"We thought this would be a great celebration of Yorkshire - it is unique, vibrant, and tasty, just like the place," he said.

And while the ingredients - vodka, blue curacao, and midori - are hardly Yorkshire standards, the cocktail is at least green to match the countryside scene.

Show bosses are hoping the weather holds, after they forecast bumper crowds for the event, possibly beating last year's figure of 125,000, the highest figure for almost 20 years.

After the opening of the event, which saw showers hold off, with just the odd umbrella unfurled, they were still hopeful.

"Walking around the showground it is very busy. A lot of people were here very early, which is always a good sign, and means they can enjoy the show for even longer," said a spokesman.

Visitors experienced traffic jams on their way to the Harrogate showground.

A police spokesman said traffic was busy travelling on the A59 from the east.

AA Roadwatch said the large volume of traffic was causing problems on the A661 Wetherby Road, Parliament Street and Otley Road.

A contraflow system to ease congestion has been set up on the A661, channelling traffic inbound in the morning, before switching to outbound in the afternoon.

Government ministers were today accused by the Country Land & Business Association's regional director, Dorothy Fairburn, of demonstrating a complete lack of interest in the rural economy by failing to visit the show.

But a Government spokeswoman said the non-appearance by ministers was because of the recent Government reshuffle, which had unforeseen implications for their diaries and had reduced their opportunities to attend shows this year.

Updated: 14:09 Tuesday, July 08, 2003