AN award-winning Herefordshire tourist attraction is hoping the industry will not be badly affected if bird flu hits the county.

Kate Kavanagh, who runs a complex of self-catering cottages near Cradley, said her experience during the foot-and-mouth outbreak made her hopeful an outbreak of avian flu would not decimate the county's vital tourist industry.

"Of course, it is worrying, especially because Hereford has such a lot of poultry. I am concerned for our own ducks and chickens but we did not experience a dip in visitors during the foot-and-mouth outbreak," said Kate, who owns Whitewells Farm Cottages at Ridgeway Cross.

"During the foot-and-mouth epidemic, it was our experience that people wanted the chance to get out and were not put off visiting Herefordshire although it is such a rural county," added Kate, who has owned the business with her husband, Denis, for the past seven years.

"We were very busy, despite foot-and-mouth with people wanting to get away from the confines of their own home even though they couldn't get into the countryside but I know this was not the case for a lot of businesses and we were fortunate.

"It's been a good year for us with strong spring and autumn books, although the summer was a bit patchy. Visitors come from all over the country and abroad."

Whitewells Farm Cottages won a silver medal in the Self-Catering Holiday category at the recent Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards.

"Tourism is now such an important part of the economy of Herefordshire so I hope I am right and concerns about bird flu do not affect the number of visitors to the county," Kate added.