Businessman Michael Melvin is using his business website to attract surfers as interested in his passion for fell-walking as his love for gas fires.

For Mr Melvin, a keen fell walker, is writing a series of walks in the Yorkshire Dales and posting them on his firm's website because of his love of the great outdoors.

The Bradford businessman's hobbies are sailing and fellwalking and he and his wife, Carole, go on walking holidays to Austria, the Greek islands or the Alps.

The first walk on www. gasfiresales.co.uk is a six-mile circular romp round Otterburn near Malham. It includes a description of the walk, details of some of the features along the way and a map showing the route.

The walk can be copied and printed out to use as a guide or website owners can upload it to their site provided the link back to gasfiresales is included.

He said: "I set up a website for the business last November and it brought in a lot of sales. The website business sells gas fires bought on line and delivered to people's homes. The sales area has widened as a result and I have sold gas fires in the south and Scotland.

"I added the Dales walks section in February and in total have had more than 6,000 hits. I am working on the next walk which will based around Kettlewell near Skipton."

He has been a member of the Bradford branch of the Countrywide Holidays Association for nearly 20 years and there a link is being planned from the CHA website to his own.

Mr Melvin, of Wibsey, set up Michael A. Melvin and Son Heating Engineers in 1969 after serving an apprenticeship as a heating engineer and has worked installing gas appliances all his working life.

In 1990 he opened the Wibsey Gas Centre in High Street with his wife. He converted the premises into a gas showroom and has concentrated his efforts since then on supplying and installing gas fires and fireplaces.

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