EAST Lancashire drinkers are being hailed the toast of Cumbria after helping a small brewery crippled by the foot and mouth epidemic.

Former Hyndburn councillor Bill Goldsmith returned to his native area last week to try and sell on some of the brews being produced by the Hesket Newmarket Brewery, based in Hesket Newmarket in the Lake District.

The co-operative brewery, which is owned by the nearby town of Hesket Newmarket, is not run for a profit and normally supplies pubs in and around the Lake District with the seven distinct brews they make.

But since the foot and mouth crisis hit the region and the flow of tourists all but dried up as a result, orders for the firm's beer has dropped dramatically, placing the future of the business on a knife edge.

The firm's perilous future prompted Bill, who now lives in Hesket Newmarket, to load up a van full of kegs of beer and head down to East Lancashire to try and get support from local publicans.

And, according to the former Oswaldtwistle councillor, they did not let him down.

Bill said: "We had no problem shifting the brews on board and we are planning to return regularly to keep the pubs we have supplied stocked up and also to supply pubs who showed an interest in our products after we ran out.

"Their support has effectively saved the brewery. It isn't run for a profit, it is run by the people of Hesket Newmarket as a co-operative after the old owner decided he wanted to retire. The alternative would have been to sell it to big brewery.

"Our normal market is just local pubs but they don't need our beer because visitors have stopped coming to the area as a result of foot and mouth, even though the area is still open.

"Everyone in Hesket Newmarket is really pleased for the support shown by people in East Lancashire."

Some 399 cases of foot and mouth have been reported in Cumbria. Only Devon has been worst hit.

More than 1,000 cases have now been confirmed nationwide.