THE first outbreak of foot and mouth was confirmed late on the evening of Thursday May 10.

One question which all of Settle and Malhamdale was asking was why was the outbreak virtually ignored by the national media? It was nearly two weeks later, Tuesday May 22, when suddenly the television cameras and national news reporters descended upon the area.

For the nationals, foot and mouth had slipped off the news radar. If anything the public and the media had become "bored" with the story. The outbreak on Alec Robinson's farm Langcliffe was case number 1,575 and the General Election, Ronnie Biggs return to justice and the thorny question of Spice Girl Gerri Helliwell's slimmer figure were deemed far more important.

Not surprisingly, the Settle community were distraught that while the nation at large thought that foot and mouth was more or less over, on their doorsteps lives and livelihoods were being ruined.

Angry calls to television and newspapers from individuals began to force the message home. Former Agriculture Minister David Curry used his contacts to impress that there was a real story here. What may have tipped the balance was the widely reported story that, for the first time, no new cases had been confirmed in the country.

Suddenly, the Settle outbreak was news again, particularly as it emerged that it was far from an isolated incident but a major epidemic. Now the world outside nows how much our community is suffering.