IT'S almost five years since the BSE outbreak swept the country and plunged farming into crisis.

Large areas of East Lancashire suffered devastating economic consequences.

And it didn't just hit those directly involved in raising cattle.

Tourism and businesses serving the public with food and drink were temporarily blighted because people couldn't venture into the countryside at weekends.

A year after the peak of that problem, our agricultural industry was hit again - this time by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Thanks to a lot of hard work, and imaginative effort by some farmers who have successfully diversified, much of the damage has now been repaired.

But not all.

Today we hear that 111 jobs are to go with the closure of Great Harwood Food Products.

The large shutdown can be traced directly back to the twin scourges of BSE and foot and mouth from which the company never recovered.

Although MP Greg Pope says that unemployment in the town is at an all-time low, such a large loss of jobs is bound to be a large blow.

On a day when there are widespread fears about another potential farm problem, bird flu, let's hope we are properly protected from further casualties of animal or bird disease.