A FARMER is casting his net in new waters in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

John Cowgill, of Carr Side Farm, Thornley, is to build two fishing lakes on his land.

"The way farming is declining today, I think the leisure industry is going to be the best way forward," he said.

He admits he knows nothing about fishing, but after taking advice thinks he will stock the lakes with coarse fish like carp, perch and roach.

The project was welcomed by Ribble Valley Council planning committee, which heard one lake would cover three acres and the other one acre. The area will be landscaped and there will be car parking and a timber cabin for customers.

He will continue to look after his sheep and beef cattle.

Mr Cowgill and his wife, Janet, already provide bed-and-breakfast accommodation at the farm but have had to close their doors to guests because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Mrs Cowgill also runs a clothes shop in Berry Lane, Longridge.

They have become increasingly worried about the future of the farming industry.

" I can imagine Britain ending up as one big area of parkland for people to play in," Mr Cowgill said.

The Cowgills, originally from Waddington, have farmed at Carr Side for 22 years and, ironically, will be flooding a piece of land which they drained soon after moving there.

"The land is predominantly clay, naturally boggy and holds water. It is a good opportunity for us to put the land back as it was and will create natural habitats for wildlife." Although the farm has not been infected, Mr Cowgill is not allowing anyone near the property because of the risk of infection. Trout, probably rainbow, may also be introduced to the lakes. But he says they are classed as game fish and there could be a closed season. Ideally, he wants to open all year round.

Ribble Valley planning officers felt the plans would not compromise the natural beauty of the existing landscape. But they imposed conditions requiring details of materials to be used, of the access to be created before other construction work began, and insisting excavated materials should not be exported from the site.

Mr Cowgill said the lakes development was on hold until the foot-and-mouth crisis ended. He is worried that the Ribble Valley's first confirmed case has been identified at Hillcrest Farm, in nearby Chipping, so the family is just "holding tight" for a while.

He adds he has never fished in his life - but he might just be tempted to take the bait in the future.

The latest count of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in Lancashire stands at 14, following the Chipping outbreak on Thursday.

The first case in the area was in February at Withnell, near Chorley, and yesterday more animals faced slaughter after land at nearby Euxton was named as having a dangerous contact.