FOUR years after the foot and mouth epidemic swept through East Lancashire, it is easy to forget the devastating impact the disease had on the area's rural communities.

But today two farmers show us that they are still counting the emotional cost of the outbreak, and living with the consequences of foot and mouth.

Andrew Bristol saw his entire stock of sheep and cattle slaughtered after spotting signs of the disease in two cattle.

After four years of hell - he lost a stone in weight through worry - he says he will always be looking over his shoulder for where the next outbreak will come from.

His neighbour, Robin Clark, has since turned his back on farming. Instead he has become the Lancashire co-ordinator for Farmers' Crisis Network, a voluntary group set up to support farmers.

And he has urged his family not to go into farming.

However, many other members of the farming community have managed - just - to bounce back. But at a cost.

They have had to scale down their farming and instead look to diversify, by building holiday homes and even business centres on their land.

It is important for the resilient community to keep looking forward and coming through the other side in the face of crippling obstacles like foot and mouth.

But it is equally important for people like Andrew and Robin to tell their tales, and stop the rest of us from remaining blissfully unaware of the devastating impact of foot and mouth, even four years on.

Let us hope we never see another outbreak like it.