FOOT and mouth disease has resulted in backlogs of work and hundreds of thousands of pounds in extra costs, council officers have revealed.

Lancashire County Council's public protection and rural affairs committee met yesterday to discuss the implications of this and how to develop the recovering rural economy.

And in a report to the committee, officers described the increased workload since the first outbreak in Lancashire at Withnell, near Chorley, on February 27, and at the end of September, by which time there had been 52 further cases.

The animal health section of the Trading Standards department dealt entirely with foot and mouth and other staff spent weekends and bank holidays working.. This cost £164,690 extra.

The emergency planners liaised between local authorities and DEFRA which accounted for 20 percent of the manager's workload, at a cost of £6,000.

The Countryside Service spent 4,510 hours of staff time at a cost of £6,500 dealing with the disease. Also other programmes have been delayed, rights of way were inadequately maintained, and staff in the department are still trying to catch up to their normal workload.

The planning service spent 200 hours and £5,500 dealing with the crisis. A rural policy manager was appointed within the planning service to oversee the recovery -- a position that will need on-going funding and resources.