A MULTI-CULTURAL picnic will be held in Waseley Hills Country Park in Rubery next month with the intention of encouraging more ethnic minorities to visit the countryside.

The £11,500 event is intended to forge links between urban residents and farmers and is a joint venture between the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Worcestershire County Council, Advantage West Midlands and Ethical First.

It is set to take place on Saturday, September 10, from 10.30am and visitors are welcome to take their own picnics along.

There will also be a farmers' market, regional food display and Bhangra dancing on offer.

The farming community is welcoming the event and NFU spokesman Michael Oakes, who is a dairy farmer in Rednal, believes it is a great idea.

"Here in Bromsgrove we are very close to both rural and urban areas and there are a lot of different communities living on our doorstep," he said.

"We are hoping that the picnic will bring a lot of different communities together and help many people from different backgrounds to get a better understanding of how the countryside works.

"It should be a great day - we have not even started to publicise it yet, but there are already more than 300 people signed up to come along," said Mr Oakes.

"We want to encourage as many people as possible to come to the countryside and then, hopefully, they will want to come back again."