THE owner of the last farm in a Ribble Valley village to be hit by foot and mouth has spoken about her ordeal.

The Redmayne family were kept prisoners in their own home after they refused to leave the holding for three weeks for fear of bringing the disease back their Paythorne farm.

Alison Redmayne who watched her 179 cows and 400 sheep culled at Carholme Farm said: "It was a nightmare, to be locked in your house for that amount of time. We had to rely on close friends and family to do our shopping. It was dreadful and still is."

The family followed all the strict instructions and guidelines given to them. Alison added: "We even missed our eldest daughter's birthday, because we had to send them away from the farm."

Their three children, Chris, 10, Rachael, nine, and Stephen, seven, were taken out of school and went to stay with their grandmother in Blackpool.

Keith, 39 and Alison, 33, said did everything that they possibly could to prevent foot and mouth. Keith has been a farmer all his life and Alison has partnered him on the farm for 13 years.

Alison spoke of her fears for the rest of the valley. She said: "I think that it will only be a matter of time before the whole of the Ribble Valley is left without livestock. The way things are going at the moment there isn't anything to stop it.

"The government have played the whole thing down, which has done nothing to help us. It is a disaster.

"It has been hell for everybody in the area.

"The children are devastated at what has happened because the animals were part of the family, they each took time to help on the farm and feed the animals. They grew up with the sheep and cows and grew to be very attached to them."