YORKSHIRE Dales Falconry and Conservation Centre owner Suzanne O'Donnell has reached the national finals of the T-Mobile and Sunday Express Women Mean Business Awards.

The overall winner will scoop £20,000 and Mrs O'Donnell is one of 10 businesswomen up for the prize. She has already won £3,000 worth of telecommunications equipment.

The awards aim to acknowledge and celebrate top women entrepreneurs.

Mrs O'Donnell and her husband, Chris, turned a redundant barn at Crow's Nest on the A65 near Giggleswick into a bird centre plus tearooms and a lecture room. She is self-taught in business after leaving school with no qualifications.

The centre has already won several accolades and recognition in the industry, including breeding the first turkey vulture in Britain.

Patrick Barrow, T-Mobile spokesman, said: "The standard of entries for the awards has been extremely impressive.

"The Yorkshire Dales Falconry and Conservation Centre has shown an immense talent for spotting a business opportunity and acting upon it with determination, innovation and flair."

The awards were open to UK businesswomen who have been running their own business for at least two years.

The overall winner will be announced at a special ceremony at The Caf Royal on Tuesday September 3.

The centre has already won 19 business awards since it was opened in 1991. The O'Donnells lived in a caravan for two years while converting the barn.

"I'm really pleased. More than 250 people entered. We have a lot of plans for the site. We have planning permission for a 36 bedroom hotel, a 500 seater restaurant and a bird exhibition hall.

Picture by Paul France.