Rural licensees lobby government for foot-and-mouth compensation

Thousands of rural publicans are lobbying the government for their share in £7bn compensation, after foot-and-mouth ripped their businesses apart.

Rural businesses, including country pubs, are still awaiting compensation after the effects of foot-and-mouth disease put many in debt of up to £50,000 - forcing others to declare bancruptcy.

And although farmers were compensated, licensees have so far received nothing for lost business caused by the dramatic dip in visitors to the countryside.

Licensees from as far away as rural Scotland to the depths of Cornwall took part in the Countryside March last week (September 22) to demonstrate their anger at the government's lack of action to kickstart the rural community and to highlight the despair that the rural community is facing.

Ian Mitchell, chairman of the UK Rural Business Campaign (UKRBC) told The Publican: "Many of our members did attend the march. We are still seeking £7bn compensation for foot-and-mouth and are angry with the way the government has handled the situation.

"But it's not just that - we also sympathise with other issues - not necessarily fox hunting - but those such as the government's whole attitude to the countryside, the fact that they are getting rid of post offices and centralising the whole system."

Alan Dale, licensee of the Royal Oak in Painswick, Gloucester, joined a coachload of fellow villagers on the march.

"Everyone was in good spirits, although the mood was definitely a little bit more militant than last time. The question of course, is whether it has achieved anything. If not, I don't think the next march will be quite so good natured next time. There's a lot of unrest in the countryside."

And the Newman Arms in Rathbone Street in the West End acted as a meeting point for many marchers, with licensee Tracy Jenkins providing free food and drink for more than 100 protestors.

Ms Jenkins said: "We felt very strongly that we wanted to support anyone who made the effort to come to London for the march. They were ordinary people, farm workers and so on, who felt it was very important that they stand up and be counted. "

Jonathan Evans, leader of the Conservative MEPs is leading the European Inquiry into how rural businesses have suffered because of foot-and-mouth. He said the full report would be published in November.

"We are pushing for a fairer deal for those businesses in rural areas who were affected by the disease," Mr Evans said. "It wasn't just farmers who were affected, but pubs and other businesses, and we want to reflect that disparity."

An earlier report, by Dr Iain Anderson, revealed that the army should have been brought in sooner to handle the outbreak.

This could have stopped the outbreak reaching epidemic proportions and may have softened the huge blow to British tourism.

Any licensees who have suffered because of foot-and-mouth and want to be part of the campaign should log onto www.ukrbc.co.uk.