NOW here's a New Year's resolution that's possible to maintain beyond January.

If you vowed to live a healthier lifestyle in 2016 then you could start by switching your tipple of choice to cider.

For experts say they have found the first evidence that the drink made from fermented apple juice is good for your health.

It is packed with chemicals that help protect against cancer, heart disease and other age related conditions.

Cider, one of England's oldest alcoholic drinks, has long been thought to be beneficial to health, but there was no proof. Now scientists have confirmed there are high levels of health-enhancing antioxidants in cider.

Half a pint delivers the same amount of antioxidants as a glass of red wine, recognised as having health benefits.

Award-winning cider maker Bob Chaplin is hoping to put Dorset at the centre of a cider renaissance in 2016.

The Copse House Cider Company, set up two years ago in North Dorset, won the Taste of Dorset Award for best cider producer in 2015.

The company currently has three craft ciders which it creates – a medium, medium dry and sparkling

variety.

Cider maker Bob Chaplin has more than 42 years’ experience working in the cider business and used to work for the Shepton Mallet Cider Mill in Somerset. He is also the Secretary for the South West of England Cidermakers’ Association.

He was introduced to company owner Oliver Tant through a friend of a friend in the cider industry. They started off making a small amount of cider and the business grew and grew.

They have planted around 46 acres of trees at the cider farm and produced around 20,000 litres of cider this year.

In 2014 the company brought in apples to use in their cider from Dorset farms, but in 2015 they focused on their own fruit and now use all their own for their cider.

They use a range of apples in their cider and even use some of the next generation of British apple varieties, which are a cross between cider apples and dessert apples.

Mr Chaplin said that there were a lot of small, craft cider makers around that were very good.

He said: “People want something a bit more different, a bit more interesting. They want to know who

makes it and the story behind the cider.”

Mr Chaplin said they might put a few blends together and see how they develop and put their cider into the spotlight.