A CLOUD has been lifted from the communities of Petrockstowe and Meeth following an assurance by animal health minister Eliot Morley this week that the Ashmoor pit will be fully restored and play no part in any of DEFRA future contingency plans.

But campaigners are calling for the site to be given back to the community free of charge as a gesture of good will.

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett was part of a delegation which met Mr Morley on Tuesday to press for a clear statement on the future of the controversial pit. It was built at the height of the foot and mouth crisis to take 400,000 carcasses, but never used.

Mr Burnett said 95% of what the community wanted had been achieved but he hoped that the site would be gifted to Devon County Council to be restored as a wildlife area.

'It is very good news that this Sword of Damocles which people have been living with for the past 18 months has been removed forever. This site should never have been chosen in the first place. It was a huge waste of public money.'

The pit, which was built without an environmental impact assessment being carried out, cost £5.6-million to build and £20,000 a week to maintain. Local protests were held at the site because of fears over the potential health hazards.

Leading protester Ron Dawson, who joined local county, borough and parish councillors at the meeting with Mr Morley, said it was good to get a clear and unequivocal undertaking that the site would never be used in future contingency plans.

'However, it is a bit of a double edged sword because the ball is back in the court of Devon County Council which will now have to decided whether to buy the site or not,' he said. 'I think it is a true meanness of spirit that the Government is not giving it back free of charge, considering what this community has gone through.'

The 100-acre site will be offered for £350,000, but Mr Morley has said if the county council decides not to take up the offer it will be sold on the open market.

DEFRA has confirmed that restoration work is not dependent on the sale and the removal of pumps, lights and linings will begin in the autumn.

Chairman of Petrockstowe Parish Council Alan Hunkin said he was very pleased with the news and it was a big relief to everyone in the parish.

'It's like a cloud has been lifted — the last 18-months has been a very worrying time,' he said.