A COUNTY-WIDE task force is to be set to tackle the economic and social effects of foot and mouth disease.
A summit held at the Marriot Hotel in Barton, near Preston, to discuss the impact the disease was having on the county, with 17 cases now confirmed including ones in Chipping, Great Harwood, Clayton-le-Dale and Withnell.
Some 70 delegates from farming, tourism, local authorities, parish councils, the North West Development Agency and Lancashire College of Agriculture outlined how the crisis had affected them. Jim Potts, from Lancashire Trading Standards, said: "The new task force has a vital role to play in coordinating Lancashire's survival and recovery plan from foot and mouth.
"It will identify and collate accurate information on the full economic impact of the disease in Lancashire and will then speak as one voice for the whole of the county.
"The North West Development Agency will then be able to bid for funding on our behalf."
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