COMMUNITY groups and individuals in a rural community blighted by the foot-and-mouth crisis have been given extra help to revitalise the area through an entrepreneurship scheme.

A drive by the Countryside Agency, One NorthEast and local business and enterprise groups aims to rebuild Teesdale's economy by helping people become their own bosses.

The farming community in the dale was dealt a heavy blow during the 2001 epidemic and, as a result of foot-and-mouth, tourism also suffered greatly, with visitor numbers down almost to none in some parts.

Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale, the two main market towns in Teesdale, suffered the most and the area is still slowly struggling to claw back visitor numbers, which is one of the biggest sources of income into the dale.

But local organisations, such as the Teesdale Market Towns Partnership and Teesdale Marketing, are keen to quicken economic recovery.

More than a hundred people from the dale attended an event at the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, on Friday, for a series of seminars called They Don't Give You Jobs Anymore, conducted by Iain Scott, of the Robert Owen Centre, which encourages entrepreneurs.

Members of the public sector, business representatives and dozens of individuals looking to start their own businesses attended the seminars.

Mr Scott, 45, has been teaching individuals how to become entrepreneurs for ten years.

He said: "It is all about having the belief that you can do it. The North-East has the worst business birth rate in the country and, as Teesdale falls into that category, the worry is that people feel they won't succeed.

"Teesdale has so much potential and with the Internet, people can run a business from an isolated cottage or while at home changing their kids' nappies. It is all about getting a start."

Business leaders and enterprise agencies in the dale have also supported the initiative.

North-East restaurateur Bill Oldfield, chairman of Teesdale Marketing, said people in the dale needed to communicate more and bounce ideas off each other.

He said: "There is no reason why Teesdale couldn't be a hub of business and community activity. It is all about making people believe they can succeed and hopefully these seminars will give people and groups that belief."