OFFICIALS today said they hoped a series of measures would prevent foot and mouth returning to East Lancashire -- more than three weeks since the area's last confirmed case.

Two confirmed cases of foot and mouth in Chipping and Forton yesterday took the total in the county to 11.

But the east of the county has stayed free from the disease for more than three weeks since two cases were confirmed -- in Withnell and Great Harwood.

The original cases came at the start of the outbreak but, unlike other areas where the disease has taken a stranglehold, foot and mouth has not spread.

A spokesman for MAFF said: "We are hoping that there will be no new cases in East Lancashire, but there is really no way you can guarantee this will be the case."

They said a series of measures, such as restricting the movement of livestock and culls at farms close to infected areas may have had an impact on stopping any new cases in the area.

An Army officer from Blackburn is helping to lead the operation to clear away carcasses infected with the foot and mouth disease in Cumbria.

Capt Ian Urwin, who is based at the Territorial Army's Moss Street Barracks, is one of a number of officers who have been deployed to Cumbria to help with the clean-up process.

The army is helping co-ordinate the disposal of the carcasses and is liaising between the farmers, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Environment Agency.

The backlog of animals awaiting slaughter is now up to 350,000 in total across the country, with Cumbria the worst affected county.

Capt Bill Haworth, who is based at a subsidiary MAFF headquarters in Lancaster, said members of the Territorial Army, including those from Blackburn, could be called on to help out on a voluntary basis if the crisis worsened.

The North West Tourist Board has set up a special hotline for information about tourist attractions across the region.

The region is currently losing about £8m a week and hundreds of jobs are at risk because of the loss of tourist trade, despite the fact that about 87 per cent of the tourist attractions are open.

The hotline, which will be manned from 9am-8pm from Monday to Friday and 10am-6pm at weekends and Bank Holidays is on 01942 764116.