FIVE political candidates are off the starting blocks as the general election gets underway in earnest in West Devon and Torridge.

Covering the ground in what is geographically the second largest constituency in England is a daunting task.

First away was Conservative Geoffrey Cox, 41, who is out to overturn the 1,957 majority of Liberal Democrat MP John Burnett.

Tory posters swiftly appeared on West Devon roadsides and their man was out meeting voters in the Saturday sunshine in Okehampton town centre.

Mr Cox, a barrister, moved his home to Sydenham from Surrey following his selection as candidate a year ago. He and his wife, Jeanie, have three children.

He was adopted as Conservative candidate at a meeting in Tavistock's Ordulph Arms last Wednesday, fewer than 24 hours after Prime Minister Tony Blair called the election.

Mr Cox said his campaign team was determined to make a quick start, as had the Tory Party nationally. 'We have been champing at the bit for six weeks,' he said.

He describes the main issue in the campaign as 'recovery and renewed prosperity in the wake of four years of damage and decline — the last phase of which was the foot and mouth crisis'.

He said: 'The countryside and keeping the pound are the main issues.

'The pound is the issue being raised very frequently and then the condition of public services.'

Mr Cox rates his chances of winning as 'extremely good.'

'We are going to win,' he said.

Mr Burnett, 55, who captured the seat in 1997, is campaigning not just on his party's policies, but on his own record in the constituency.

He said he and his wife, Billie, had not 'spared themselves' since he was elected as MP four years ago.

'I have dedicated myself 100 per cent to being an MP,' he said, having quit his previous roles as senior partner in an Okehampton law practice and as a cattle farmer.

'I have been a full-time MP. I believe that everyone who is an MP should not have an outside job — it should be a condition of service.'

Mr Burnett said he was buoyed by the 'huge level of encouragement' from electors which 'cut across party lines'.

'More and more people are looking for an independent MP who will champion their constituency,' he said.

He sees the priority issue as the repercussions of the foot and mouth crisis. 'It has had serious effects not just on farming, but on tourism and many other businesses — recovery from the crisis is the immediate vital issue.'

He also cited health and education as major issues saying he had promised to make the latter a priority and would continue to do so if elected.

Mr Burnett lived at Petrockstowe for more than 20 years.

He and his wife now live in Tavistock and have four adult children.

Labour's David Brenton, who lives at Bideford, is fighting West Devon and Torridge for the fourth time — last election he came third with 7,319 votes. He is a 55-year-old mental health support worker, and his wife, Annie, is this year's Labour mayor of Bideford. The couple have three adult children and a grand-daughter. 'We are a grandfather,' joked Mr Brenton, recalling Mrs Thatcher's similar phrase.

Mr Brenton admits there will be a need to encourage voters to turn out, particularly in the urban area in the north of the constituency. He sees health, education and economic stability as the prime issues and says the introduction of a minimum wage showed how Labour could deliver for a rural constituency.

He dismisses suggestions that a Labour vote in this seat is 'wasted' as it could split the anti

Tory vote and help elect a Conservative MP.

'There are key areas where the Liberal Democrats have voted against the Labour Government — the New Deal and the Windfall tax are two examples where they have sided with the Tories. 'If you want a Labour Government then you have to vote Labour,' he said.

Fighting for the UK Independence Party is Crediton mayor Bob Edwards, 55. He has lived in the town for more than 20 years and has a partner, Ruth. A former member of the SDP, he is also a close friend of Mr Burnett's — the two men joined the Royal Marines together as teenagers in 1964. Mr Edwards was a marine for 22 years and was beachmaster at San Carlos during the Falklands Campaign.

Mr Edwards, whose party wants withdrawal from the EU, said the country was being 'dragged' into a European Union when people had only voted for a common market. 'Out of every ten people I speak to, five are very unhappy with Britain's place in Europe.

'I am not anti-European, but I am anti-EU,' he said, adding that he believed the Conservative policy of 'In Europe but not run by Europe' was not an option. 'It has to be all or nothing.'

The Green Party is represented by Martin Quinn, 46, who has lived in Tavistock for three years. A research support manager at Plymouth University, he is married with four young children.

Mr Quinn said the foot and mouth crisis had highlighted the need for a radical rethink about food production. 'We import as much food as we export. There is a food swap going on and it is unnecessary,' he said.

He sees the main issues as globalisation, the environment and world poverty. 'They are more important than arguments about the fine details of tax,' he said. 'But we are not solely an environmental pressure group.'

Mr Quinn canvassed in Hatherleigh and Okehampton last Saturday and said he was pleased by the response.

l 1997 result: John Burnett (Lib Dem) 24,744; Ian Liddell-Grainger (Cons) 22,787; David Brenton (Lab) 7,319; Roger Lea (Referendum Party) 1,946; Matthew Jackson (UKIP) 1,841; Michael Pithouse (Liberal) 508.