Hard-pressed farmers in the South West have been given a welcome cash boost.

The South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) has launched a £150,000 fund to support the region's beleaguered livestock industry.

The money will be used for financial planning and welfare support.

The financial planning is being administered through Business Links. Farmers will be offered advice over the phone and/or a visit by a financial planning expert. Anyone interested should phone their local Business Links.

The welfare money will be deployed through the Farming Help partnership, which is made up of the charities Farm Crisis Network (FCN), ARC-Addington Fund and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI).

The Farming Help charities support farmers and their families in times of need through their local networks, with a combination of pastoral and practical support, financial grants in crisis situations and longer term welfare assistance.

Anyone interested in making use of these services should phone the FCN Helpline on 0845 367 9990.

This fund will address some of the problems caused by the recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue.

After a meeting with the NFU and other stakeholders, the RDA decided to make this support available to enable viable businesses to plot a course through this turbulent period.

It will enable individual farmers to understand the extent of their business difficulties and how to deal with them.

The services are likely to be of most interest to the region's tenant farmers, who are likely to be facing the most challenging cash flow problems.

Sir Harry Studholme, the RDA's board member with lead responsibility for the rural economy, said: "This is a very difficult time for the South West's livestock farmers.

"We have been talking to farmers organisations about the problems caused by the movement restrictions, and the South West RDA is conscious of the problems which are not simply economic."