DATING is a brutal world, from apps to blind dates, to your mother setting you up with people.

But one dating site is aiming to make the process easier - at least for country folk - and is gaining some traction in Cumbria.

The rate of sign up to country-life dating site 'Muddy Matches' is up 67 percent in Cumbria, year-on-year; a figure that is above the national average.

In Carlisle, there’s been a 121 percent increase in singles signing up looking for their muddy Mr or Mrs Right, with a particular focus on 18-24 year olds.

Muddy Matches is a family-owned company based in Northamptonshire. It was originally started by two farming sisters, Lucy and Emma, in 2007. They had an idea to match couples together based on their love of the countryside.

Andrew Mitchell of Muddy Matches said: "It was difficult to connect with people who had similar life experiences, outlooks on life and interests. Farming communities are often remote, and the lifestyle is one whereby you don’t tend to get the opportunity to meet lots of like-minded single people.

"It has genuine rural roots, from setting up with 2,000 members to today where over three quarters of a million people have signed up and the website gets over 3 million views monthly.

"We have kept to the same traditional principals and 'muddy values' that were the basis on which Muddy Matches was formed, honesty, respect, openness and authenticity.

"Our customer care is manual (we check all profiles by manual eyes before approving them onto the site) and we celebrate each success story like a little win."

Muddy Matches suggests that it's the same as any other online dating site, just with a country touch. Each member can talk to one other and send a ‘wink’ to each other to show interest.

The website connections are built more on interests than appearance, or employment.

Many success stories have came from the site, which even a farm wedding being held.

Julia, 38, met shooting fan, Simon in 2017, immediately bonding over their love of 'country pursuits'. Two years on, the rural romance which started as a match on Muddy Matches bloomed into a muddy wedding.

Julia said: "Simon was my dream match and still is. He ticked everyone of my boxes and he’s simply a wonderful husband."