Prime Minister Tony Blair's rural champion Lord Haskins has praised Cumbria for the way it is recovering from foot and mouth.

The government's former Rural Recovery co-ordinator is giving evidence at the county's inquiry in Carlisle.

He told the hearing he considered the area's recover "remarkable".

It is the final week of the extensive Cumbria inquiry, before chairman Professor Phil Thomas and his team start preparing their report.

Lord Haskins will report back to Tony Blair

Lord Haskins told the inquiry: "Listening to what I have heard about Cumbria, it tells how resilient people are in a situation of this sort.

"It shows how well communities recover and cope with the situation."

Lord Haskins has been told to report back to the government on what help Cumbria needs, to continue its recovery from the economic effects of the outbreak.

The county was one of the worst hit by the epidemic, which started in February 2001.

Lord Haskins added: "I know there is a lot of trauma about, but at the same time it is remarkable how quickly we have got to where we are now compared with where we were last August."

Economic impact

The inquiry has already heard from tourism officials who said government announcements telling people not to travel to the county had a devastating effect on the Lake District and surrounding areas.

Over the next few days there will be further evidence from the National Farmers' Union, and a number of sessions looking at the economic impacts of the disease and the hopes for regeneration.

The MP whose constituency suffered more disease than any other, Conservative David Maclean, will be giving evidence on Thursday, 30 May.

The inquiry report will be submitted to Cumbria County Council at the end of July.