DEVELOPMENT agency, Advantage West Midlands (AWM), used a conference in Hereford this week to pledge its ongoing support to business, farming and tourism in Herefordshire.

From April next year, the rural areas of the county will be regarded as a regeneration zone - one of six across the West Midlands - signalling the opening of flood gates on funding and regeneration for rural enterprise and development.

Speaking at a conference at The Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford, Chairman of AWM, Alex Stephenson said: "We recognise the particular problems and challenges facing a mainly rural county like Herefordshire and are delighted to be able to play a part in ensuring those issues are tackled for the benefit of all sectors of the local community.

"The zones have been identified as being areas of both need and opportunity and we will be focussing 70 per cent of our resources there in support of economic development, learning and skills initiatives, environmental improvements and community regeneration.

The funding and development giant will be working with the Herefordshire Partnership to deliver business support packages and to build on the county's growing reputation for food, drink and tourism.

AWM has allocated £98,000 towards marketing tourism in Herefordshire in the wake of the foot and mouth epidemic.

Grants are available to 400 individual tourism businesses which have suffered as a direct result of the disease throughout 2001.

Mr Stephenson told the conference £302,000 is still available for other rural businesses and that £646,000 has already been paid.

Kington is one of the first six market towns in line for a share in £2 million made available for regeneration projects and Ledbury and Bromyard have been invited to put forward proposals for future schemes.

Since 1995 Herefordshire has received more than £15 million from the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) managed by AWM. SRB money has been used to foster successful projects like Hereford Click, an online system of trading and accounting for farmers.