The Prince of Wales has donated a star prize to an auction being held at a charity ball in Bolton Abbey.

The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust June ball is being held at the Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel on June 25.

Prince Charles has contributed a signed, framed lithograph of his painting, Wensleydale, to the event.

Money raised by the auction will assist the Trust, an independent charity, to carry out the £9 million Dales EnviroNet project. Funded by a £4 million grant from the Millennium Commission, the EnviroNet project covers a wide variety of schemes aimed at environmental and community improvements in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Trust has to raise the matching funding and is heavily reliant on public and corporate donations.

Trust chairman Roger Stott said: "We are once again very honoured that His Royal Highness has donated a lithograph to our auction. The watercolour was painted on a private visit to the Dales in the early 1990s. Printed by hand on the finest paper, this print is a numbered and signed artist's proof. The printing plates have since been destroyed, so this is a very unusual opportunity to purchase a rare and valuable item."

Ann Shadrake, fundraising manager for the Trust, said: "We've had the lithograph specially framed. Richard Whiteley, our celebrity auctioneer, will also be putting a number of other great prizes under the hammer."

Further information can be obtained from the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust on 015242 51002.

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