ELEVEN tourist attractions are joining forces to shake off the after-effects of foot and mouth once and for all.

They are known as the East Lancashire Tourist Attractions Consortium (ELTAC) and have obtained nearly £10,000 funding to promote themselves jointly at national and international level.

And they hope their collective clout will not only help businesses stabilise, but also prosper in the future.

The launch of the project comes almost one year since Lancashire's first foot and mouth outbreak on February 27 at a farm in Withnell. The county was declared foot and mouth free nine months and 52 cases later.

Lawrence and Rita Baxter, owners of the Sabden Heritage Arts and Craft Centre, saw their profits slump by 65 per cent. They decided in November that something had to be done urgently to attract visitors back and decided to set up ELTAC.

They contacted Business Link to explain the idea and obtained a £7,500 grant for marketing and the set-up of an internet site.

The proposal was taken around various businesses and now 10 others are part of the consortium.

They are: Rourke's Forge in Burnley, Helmshore Textile Museum, Ribchester Roman Museum, Bowland Wild Boar Park, Lancashire Fusiliers Museum, Bury, Wellsprings Exhibitions, Pendle, Pendle Antiques Centre, Haworth Art Gallery, Oswaldtwistle Mills and Whittaker Park Museum in Rawtenstall.

Lawrence said: "We feel we have created something very special. Many people we approached said it was about time somebody set up something like this. We will work together and will have a lot more clout than if it was just us on our own."

Earlier this week, ELTAC was awarded £2,000 from the North West Development Agency Foot and Mouth Rural Recovery Fund for marketing.