"THE worst is yet to come," says an agricultural chaplain, one year on from foot and mouth crisis.

Salvation Army agricultural chaplain Keith Ineson says that the worst is yet to come in terms of financial hardship for farmers trying to recover from the foot and mouth crisis.

"Many farmers are still going to go under," says Keith. "Banks have been fairly reasonable over the last 12 months or so, but they are now beginning to apply pressure and wanting to negotiate overdrafts.

"The public has been extremely generous, with around £10-12m donated through organisations like RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution).

"But in real terms this is a drop in the ocean for farmers who have lost thousands of pounds each."

Keith, a former farmer himself and now working full-time as an agricultural chaplain for The Salvation Army, is based in Cheshire but has been speaking to farmers all over the UK. "Many farmers are emotionally on the edge and panic every time they get an official-looking letter from the Ministry of Agriculture, even when it is something quite straightforward, such is their paranoia.

"We need to keep the issue of the rural recovery from foot and mouth in the public eye and in the minutes of politicians. Farmers need more feedback from Government as to how they can be helped to continue in business and support the rural economy as a whole."

Updated: 10:10 Thursday, February 28, 2002