Disease hit Cumbria gets £42m

Cumbria lost hundreds of millions of pounds

Cumbria is to get more than £42m to help it recover from the effects of foot-and-mouth disease.

The cash, from the North West Development Agency (NWDA), will be used over the next five years.

It is hoped the money, part of a £100m package for the north west, will help create up to 5,000 jobs.

Rex Toft, leader of Cumbria County Council, said the area deserved "every penny".

Tourism

The NWDA says most of the handout will be used to develop industries other than agriculture.

Rex Toft: Cumbria deserves every penny

Cumbria's tourism industry was blighted by foot-and-mouth, with hotels and bed and breakfast establishments going out of business.

Mr Toft said: "We talked to government last year during the outbreak and said we needed significant funding to help Cumbria recover.

"There was terrible damage done to so many of our businesses.

"We persuaded government that Cumbria should be designated a rural action zone, but we were told no new money could be found.

"What he did do was to promise to talk to the NWDA to find significant funds for Cumbria."

Mr Toft said Cumbria County Council would be setting up a rural regeneration company to determine how the cash will be spent.

More than 3,000 farms lost their animals and the tourist industry is believed to have lost £200m during the year-long outbreak.