A leading law firm with its own specialist agriculture section is in the running for a national rural business award.

Swayne Johnson, which has a base in Tattenhall and a network of offices extending across North Wales, has been short-listed for the Rural Professional Services Business award for Wales and Northern Ireland in the annual Rural Business Awards.

They are the only law firm nominated in a category dominated by land agents and surveyors for the prestigious awards which will be presented at a special ceremony at the Kinmel Manor Hotel, Abergele, in October.

Swayne Johnson director Caryl Vaughan, a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association who also works closely with Farming Connect in their free farm succession surgeries, heads up the company’s increasingly busy agricultural and rural sector.

Both her grandfathers were farmers and she said: “We are delighted to have been short-listed for such prestigious awards and to be the only law firm on that list.

“We are at the heart of a rural area where farming is hugely important and where issues such as Brexit and the uncertainty that is causing are of immense concern to the agricultural industry.

“It is certainly seeing us busier than ever with enquiries from farmers who were traditionally reluctant to consult their solicitors unless it was absolutely necessary, if they needed to buy or sell land, prepare a Will or deal with a complex Probate.

“And we are a full service law firm providing legal service and advice for individuals, businesses and charities as well as farmers and landowners and with clients across the whole of England and Wales.”

Swayne Johnson dates back to 1853 and its connections go back almost 50 years earlier but in recent years it has been one of the fastest-growing law firms in the region.

In the last 10 years it has gone from two offices to six and now employs 55 staff with 30 lawyers and eight directors who work within specialist teams and supporting roles.