Praise for burial pit restoration

The Ash Moor pit was built by the government in 2001

Devon County Council has been praised for its work to restore culm grassland at a foot and mouth burial pit.

Ash Moor pit was built by the government in 2001 to take 900,000 animal carcasses but was never used.

The council has been named as joint runner-up in the Schemes on the Ground category of Royal Town Planning Institute's regional planning awards.

The judges commended the council for its "prompt action, forward thinking and professionalism."

'Lasting legacy'

The judges said that the council's actions "enabled significant site enhancement to be achieved as a fundamental part of the subsequent restoration process".

He added: "This is the kind of planning achievement which seldom hits any headlines, but yet provides a lasting legacy of professionalism."

Councillor Michael Browning from the council said: "Ash Moor today looks as if no major development has ever taken place."

The pit, near Petrockstowe, was built by the government at a cost of several million pounds in 2001 as a foot and mouth burial site, but was never used.