CUMBRIA'S farming comm-unities remain unbowed by the devastation wrought on them by foot-and-mouth, according to new research.

Academics from Newcastle University's Centre for Rural Economy said they were surprised to find that "almost all" affected farmers in the hardest hit county intended to continue farming.

Published one year on from the height of the crisis, the study showed that far from being keen to leave farming, some farmers were even expanding their businesses.

The research revealed that the crisis cost Cumbrian agriculture £200 million with farms where animals were culled losing an average of £51,516 for the year while those left standing lost around £14,147 each.

The report, entitled Coping with the Crisis in Cumbria; The Consequences of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, also revealed that more than half of the 67 farmers interviewed had suffered a double whammy after diversifying into tourism, which was also hit by the crisis.

But of the 67, only one farmer told researchers he was turning his back on the industry.

Researcher Dr Katy Bennett said: "Most farmers and their families feel that foot-and-mouth turned their lives upside down.

For some it has shaken their sense of direction and self-belief and made them question their future in farming.

" Most, though, hanker for a return to what they know as normality and intend to restock.

Some are highly sceptical and talk about alternatives, a scepticism reinforced by the evident vulnerability of diversified activities during the crisis.

Others feel deeply committed to continuing in farming - if not for themselves, then for the sake of their families.

"While demoting agriculture, the crisis has also revealed starkly the continuing reliance of the countryside on farming.

The rural economy, however diverse, remains vulnerable to an agricultural crisis," she said.

Gill Shearer, from NFU North West, said: "It proves how resilient the county's farmers are.

Cumbria is a great agricultural county, always has been and always will be."

She said that large numbers of dairy cattle from Cheshire were being sold to Cumbrian farms for restocking as farmers in Cheshire, unlike their Cumbrian counterparts,

took the opportunity to get out of farming.

" People in Cumbria," she said, "are reviewing what they are doing.

Some are going in bigger and better but for the few who are leaving the industry, particularly tenant farmers, it is an opportunity to perhaps take that decision five or ten years earlier than they would have been able to normally."