A ‘SHOCKING’ number of Cumbrians suffered anguish and stress following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth and the tenth anniversary is expected to be another traumatic time.

Stark memories and distressing recollections of farmers, villagers, council workers and many more were collated after the 2001 epidemic as part of an investigation into the health and social impact of foot-and-mouth (FMD).

Fifty-four people in areas hit by the epidemic kept emotive journals for 18 months describing how their lives have been affected by the crisis as part of the research funded by the Department of Health and led by Dr Maggie Mort of Lancaster University.

In the diaries - written between 2001 and 2003 - and interviews conducted in the community, residents tell of feeling distressed, traumatised and guilty.

They depict when the killing first started, the silence of the land and the birds when the fires were lit and they recall the smell the blood in the air and the charred animal remains.

One small craft business owner told researchers: “ You begin to hate the place, you begin to hate the very thing you love... because the lack of awareness by our Government to realise the human dilemma, the psychological effects that something like that can have on people’s lives, aside of the finance, the economics, everything, people matter.”

The study found that 61 people involved in the study suffered from depression, stress, post-traumatic experiences, social or health problems.

Dr Mort, said: “For those who were affected, the tenth anniversary will be very traumatic for them but knowing that people understand what they went through and having the reassurance from DEFRA that flexible planning will be in place for next time will help to relieve the distress caused by the tenth anniversary.

“It will be very distressing and bring back a lot of awful memories but what happened should never be forgotten.”

She said it had been important for people who had gone through the disaster to tell their story.

She added: “It was shocking the sorts of things people had to do and carry out.

"We were expecting some of the responses but we were shocked by the sheer scale of people who had to be involved.

"It was not just farmers and cattle there were lots of other people from vicars, council workers, lorry drivers.”

She said that the study acted as a social record of the disaster so that people could appreciate what the rural community went through.