SHADOW agriculture minister Tim Yeo has promised the Conserv-atives, if elected, would breath new life into a Gwent farming community dubbed 'Death Valley'.

Mr Yeo made his pledge on a brief visit to Monmouth-shire yesterday, where he met farmers from the Grosmont area, which has been badly affected by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He had been invited to Monmouthshire by Conserv-ative candidate Roger Evans. The shadow minister, spoke at the Old Pandy Inn, near Abergavenny, to a 20-plus crowd consisting of farmers and party supporters.

The Grosmont area has been dubbed Death Valley by farmers who have watched the area's livestock being virtually wiped out.

Asked by the Argus what hope the Conservative party could offer communities like Grosmont, he said: "We will give full support to the whole industry, particularly those areas where livestock has been badly affected, like you have had here.

"The Conservatives recognise that farmers need more than compensation payments for their slaughtered livestock. They need full and proper support and we are prepared to give it to them."

Mr Yeo told the gathered crowd and media that the government had turned its back on the foot-and-mouth issue in the pursuit of votes and election headlines. As new cases of foot-and-mouth were confirmed in North Yorkshire, he said: "The government has its eye solely on the election, when it should have its eye on the foot-and-mouth crisis.

"Their handling of the crisis is one of the scandals of the decade. They have swept the issue under the carpet."

Farmers who turned up to see Mr Yeo were equally unimpressed with the government's handling of the crisis.

Neville Waters, of Peny-banc Farm, Caerleon, has 400 cattle stranded on his land because of livestock movement restrictions.

He told the Argus: "The crisis arose, I believe, because the government did not deal with it immediately."

After his 30-minute stay in Pandy, Mr Yeo headed for Brecon where he was due to meet more farmers.

At the time of the cull, Janice Farr, who runs R.A Farr & Son Town Farm, Great Tesseny, in Grosmont, with husband Andrew, said: "We are all calling the area Death Valley we are worried there won't be any animals left and this beautiful area will be left with fields and fields of just grass."

She added: "We cannot come to terms with it my husband has been farming all his life we are heartbroken."