THE controversial Ash Moor pit near Petrockstowe is being seen as a prime spot for a tourist attraction to regenerate the area following foot and mouth.

Local residents are calling for the giant pit, built at a cost of £5.6 million, to be reinstated to agricultural land — but the team behind plans to regenerate the Hatherleigh district feel it could be used to the area's advantage.

Mayor of Hatherleigh Dennis Bater said there were lots of ideas in the melting pot to boost Hatherleigh and its hinterland, which would go forward as part of the Market and Coastal Town Initiative.

But he said Ash Moor certainly stood out as having 'vast potential'.

The Government has not ruled out keeping the site as part of a contingency plan should there be another foot and mouth epidemic in the future.

But local people fear that if it was ever used it could cause an environmental disaster because of the high-water table.

The campaign to restore the site to grassland is being led by Devon County Council and West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett.

Cllr Bater said there was now a 'beautiful road' leading to the site and electricity.

'It could be used to the advantage of the area by making it into some sort of visitor attraction,' he said.

'The Government has spent millions of pounds on the pit, so it should be used for some useful purpose which will help generate income.

'The Eden Project was created from a clay pit in Cornwall and here we have a similar site just begging to be used.'

The man who is leading the regeneration of the Hatherleigh area, Charles Coffin, said nobody had come forward with an actual proposal for the Ash Moor pit but suggestions had certainly been made.

Mr Coffin said: 'The infrastructure is there to do something — it seems crazy to have a road going into the site and not be able to use it for something positive for the area — the last thing we would want to see is a landfill site.

'But I do understand the sensitivity of the situation, and that many residents just want it back to what it used to be.'

He added that in the coming weeks a consultation would take place with the people of Meeth and Petrockstowe to see what projects they would like to see happen in the future.

'I am sure the Ash Moor pit will be a big talking point,' he said.

Resident Joe Skinner, who was a member of the campaign group STAMP (Stop the Ash Moor Pit), said this was a rural site and the most appropriate use of it was as a wildlife area, managed by someone like English Heritage or the Devon Wildlife Trust.