A NATIONAL park is named as a top place to visit in a survey, because of its scenery, remoteness and beautiful walks.

The majority of visitors of the Yorkshire Dales National Park said they would come back, with peace and tranquillity being another major draw.

The comments come from the results of face-to-face surveys commissioned by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority last year.

90 per cent of respondents said they had visited before, 70 per cent of them in the last 12 months compared to 64 per cent in the last similar survey in 2008.

And the number of first-time visitors has risen from seven per cent in 2008 to 10 per cent.

The results show more people were staying in the area for an average of five nights – 58 per cent compared to 47 per cent in 2008 – while 42 per cent were visiting the area for the day, compared to 53 per cent in 2008 Just over a third lived in the Yorkshire and Humberside region, 17 per cent came from the North West and seven per cent of the visitors were from other countries – mainly New Zealand, Australia and Germany – compared with two per cent in 2008.

The surveys involved 515 people and took place at a range of busy visitor locations in the National Park, including Malham, Aysgarth, Ribblehead and Grassington.