The worst psychological effects of the foot-and-mouth crisis in Cumbria have yet to surface, according to a rural health expert.

Dr John Wynn Jones, director of the Institute of Rural Health (IRH) was speaking at a one-day conference in the county on Friday

He told BBC News Online: "The worst might still be to happen - people have been coping reasonably well up till now. But a crisis may still be about to hit people in rural areas."

Cumbria was one of the worst hit counties during the foot-and-mouth outbreak, which started in February 2001.

There wasn't an infrastructure to cope with the catastrophe that actually happened

Dr John Wynn Jones, Institute of Rural Health

Speaking from the "Rising From the Ashes" conference in Wetheral, Dr Wynn Jones said: "There are still people out there who are suffering and who will need help, but the problem at the moment is that we can't identify them.

"What we found during the foot-and-mouth crisis was that farmers did not access the traditional health or mental health facilities.

"Farmers seek practical solutions, and don't tend to think of their problems as having a medical aspect."

The IRH is seeking to improve health and well being in rural communities across the UK.

Dr Wynn Jones said symptoms experienced by farmers during the crisis included tearfulness, lack of sleep, increased drinking, anger and irritability.

Rural health experts want better planning

Dr Wynn Jones said it is the duty of health and other support agencies to be prepared for any future countryside crisis.

He said: "There wasn't an infrastructure to cope with the catastrophe that actually happened.

"As a society we have plans in place to deal with jet aircraft coming down, but nothing to deal with a crisis in the farming community or a wider economic crisis."

As well as farming communities , the tourism industry in Cumbria was badly hit, as were industries related to agricultural services.

Public inquiry

Dr Katy Bennett, of the Centre for Rural Economy at the University of Newcastle, said businesses' apparent resilience masked a grimmer reality.

"Households in Cumbria absorbed the worst of the social and economic impacts of the foot and mouth disease crisis with repercussions for communities," she said.

Earlier this year Cumbria County Council held its own public inquiry into the outbreak. Its report is due at the end of July.