A farmer whose land was devastated by foot-and-mouth disease has spoken of his new hopes as dairy cows returned to his property.

William Lambert's livestock was destroyed after his farm which supplies milk to Wensleydale cheese-makers became the first victim of the disease in North Yorkshire.

But Mr Lambert, 39, was celebrating last night as 38 Friesian cows were en-route to his land at Raygill Farm, near Hawes, North Yorkshire. He took delivery of an advance party of the newcomers on Monday and they are already getting used to his milking parlour.

Looking back on the misery of last year he said: ''It was totally soul-destroying to see your livelihood being destroyed like that. ''We hoped we would be okay because the nearest case was over 40 miles away in the Barnard Castle area in Co Durham.

''But now we're trying to be optimistic about the future. This is a new start and somehow we're going to make it work.''

Mr Lambert lost 117 cows and 160 sheep when the disease was discovered in March last year.

He said farming has been a family tradition for 300 years and he never considered quitting.

''If the crisis has taught the country anything it's the vital role that farming plays. I could never abandon farming.''

On a lighter note he added: ''Wallace and Gromit will have a cheesy grin on their faces because now we're back in business.''

Wensleydale cheese, for which milk from Mr Lambert's herd is used, is a favourite of the television characters.