THE sound of newborn lambs bleating in the fields at Boasley Cross is a sign of hope for the future for farmers all over Devon.

In a village where livestock was virtually wiped out in the foot and mouth crisis, the Poll Dorset lambs being born at Elfreda Farm have brought smiles back to the faces of local residents after a gloomy seven months.

The new additions, which currently stand at 20, are owned by Michael and Annette Weech who bought the 30-acre smallholding in March before foot and mouth took hold in the area.

Had the family moved down at the time with their 150 sheep, they would almost certainly have lost their animals to MAFF's contiguous cull policy or the welfare disposal scheme, if not to the disease itself.

But after the sale went through on their house in Somerset they stayed in rented accommodation until the ministry gave the go-ahead for animals to head west in July.

'We had fallen in love with the property but we sat tight until we were given the okay from MAFF (now DEFRA),' said Mrs Weech, who is assistant kitchen manager at Okehampton College. 'My daughters, who are 21 and 14, came down because my youngest was due to start school after Easter and they witnessed the devastation all around them.'

Mrs Weech said she could empathise with farmers who had been through the foot and mouth crisis because her father lost his herd to TB.

'Dad's cattle stock had been built up over generations and he nearly had a nervous breakdown when they were slaughtered — he used to drive around the fields looking for the animals,' she said.

Two weeks ago the first lamb was born on the farm and since then there has been a steady stream of visitors.

'The majority of farm animals around here were culled out and there was no stock left in our road at all,' she said. 'It was strange to see no animals and the new lambs have brought much excitement.'

Neighbour Karen Genduso, who had livestock slaughtered on her farm, said she could see as far as Bridestowe from her bedroom window and all the fields had been empty.

'From seeing nothing at all to lambs playing in the fields next door is a very welcome sight — when you wake up and hear them bleating it is wonderful. It gives us all some hope that things will return to normal.'