RIBBLE Valley MP Nigel Evans has welcomed the news that foot and mouth has been declared officially over - but warned the misery still goes on.

At midnight on Monday the Government announced the 11-month crisis was over after the last affected county - Northumberland - was given the all-clear.

Mr Evans' constituency was one of the worst-affected areas in the county and housed headquarters in Gisburn specially to fight the disease.

He said foot and mouth destroyed farming communities and added he has written to Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs calling for a public inquiry.

Mr Evans said: "Foot and mouth brought devastation to our farming communities. There were more than 2,000 cases in Britain with nearly six million animals destroyed.

"I welcome news that we have been declared foot and mouth-free but this does not mean the end of suffering for our farming and tourist trades. We have seen many farmers go out of business and incomes have fallen to an all-time low. Tourism has been shaken to its roots, hoteliers and associated businesses have seen profits plummet and businesses fall by the wayside.

"We must learn from the mistakes of this outbreak to protect our industries from any further outbreak. We must also do what we can to protect ourselves against cheaper and lower-quality food imports from other countries."