A COUNTRYSIDE Agency scheme to tackle rural deprivation has had a qualified welcome by MP John Burnett.

The initiative, which stems from the government's Rural White Paper published last year, aims to help 1,000 parishes around the country to solve their own problems of transport, business, tourism, the environment and local services.

Mr Burnett said he strongly supported the move, as many of the villages and small towns in the West Devon and Torridge constituency could benefit from it. 'I will be looking at how West Devon Borough Council can ensure that its parishes get involved,' he said.

But he added: 'it looks as if the sums of money offered are meagre when spread across the whole country.'

The agency's senior countryside officer Lyn Kettles said proposals could be sent in from now on, but grants would probably not be awarded until June or July.

She expected that the grants would probably be in the region of £1,000 to £5,000, but said that no ceiling had been set.

'The village is not obliged to raise matching funding, but it may be able to use our grant as a lever to get other funds,' she said.

The agency has set up a Vital Villages Unit in Bristol, which will handle requests for help from villages and small market towns.

It will be headed by Nick Halliday, at present head of the agency's South-West team.

An agency spokeswoman said that any village could apply for a grant, but not all would get help because their plans might not fit the strategy.

The successful applicants would not necessarily be the most deprived areas, but those which came up with the most realistic and creative proposals.

'We are willing to look at ideas which have not been tried before,' she said.