RURAL businesses across North Yorkshire today embarked on a recovery bid to escape the curse of foot and mouth.

Leading businesses and farming figures say they will team up to make it easier for people at the sharp end of foot and mouth to survive, following a major conference at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Their aims include giving practical advice to farms and businesses on how to restart or diversify, and bolstering the call for a reform of European law to give regions such as Yorkshire a more effective say in solving their own problems.

Championing the cause is the BBC's Countryfile presenter, John Craven, who told the Evening Press: "The countryside has a future, but people need to work together to bring it about."

The conference, held yesterday by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, brought together the Country Land and Business Association, the Countryside Agency, the Yorkshire Tourist Board and many other partners.

Mr Craven chaired a question and answer session, in which farmers, councillors and businesses told the panelists they wanted help negotiating the tough course of applying for cash and support.

The presenter added that Yorkshire was the first area hit by foot and mouth to host a "think tank" of such a kind, and said it provided a model for other parts of Britain in the same situation.

The conference also saw calls for major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, giving regions more power to tailor their own solutions to crises such as foot and mouth.

Mr Craven backed the call, adding: "Everyone agrees that there needs to be a major reform at the European level."

John Robinson, Associate Director of North Yorkshire Agricultural firm Ritchey Tagg, said there was danger in believing that compensation was all that farmers needed to restart themselves.

"A lot of people don't know how to restart a business. We can't just give money and tell people to use it.

We need a much larger scheme for retraining and re-educating people if they are to diversify effectively."

Andy Tordoff, head of rural renaissance for Yorkshire Forward, said the event had been "a tremendous success."

But he said the agency had heeded calls for easier access to information on restarting and how to go about it.

"I heard from one farmer who said he had been given his compensation money, but frankly didn't have a clue what to do with it, and that was quite a common complaint.

"The system of accessing information is perceived by our customers as very complex, and Yorkshire Forward will have to look at ways of streamlining it."

The agency will be sending out debriefing packs to all the delegates, highlighting proposed courses of action which arose from the conference, in the coming weeks.

Updated: 09:04 Wednesday, July 11, 2001