Independent experts are to be sent in to Whitehall departments to guarantee Government policies are not undermining rural areas after ministers axed their countryside watchdog.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon promised a "robust" system would be put in place after criticism for abolishing the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) and the Government's Rural Advocate.

In an interview, Mr Benyon said the Government wanted to make sure policies are properly "rural-proofed" to ensure they take account of the circumstances and needs of areas such as Devon and Cornwall.

"When people sometimes ask me about an independent conscience, we think there's a way forward on this," said Mr Benyon.

"I'm in discussion with some people who will be able to give an independent analysis of rural-proofing efforts across government and be able to get into departments, talk to politicians and senior officials and see what the understanding is.

"Rural-proofing is a process people went through without any genuine belief it was going to make any difference whatsoever. We want it to be effective and want to be held to account."

He added: "We won't be creating a new quango or tsars but it will be a robust system of holding ourselves to account, but also using the expertise of a number of different people and organisations to assess how we go forwards."

Both the CRC and the role of the Rural Advocate, a position held by Stuart Burgess, who has been the countryside's contact with Number 10 since being appointed under Tony Blair, are being abolished as part of the Government's drive to cut costs.

A Rural Policy Unit has instead been created inside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), sparking criticism it will lack independence.

But Mr Benyon claimed the fact Defra ministers represent rural constituencies meant rural needs would not be ignored, and also pointed to vocal campaign groups like the Countryside Alliance.

A £165 million drive to unleash the potential of the rural economy was launched as part of the autumn statement last week, including the creation of six rural growth networks.

The minister said rural areas had been "ignored at the heart of Government" for too long, adding: "Those days are over."

Rural residents earn less, pay higher council tax and get fewer grants than urban areas, critics claim.

Meanwhile, a delegation of MPs yesterday pressed David Cameron at Downing Street for a fairer allocation of public cash to the countryside.

"The last Government used 'deprivation' as an all-purpose cover to justify skewing funding formulae to advantage urban areas at the expense of the rural," said Graham Stuart, chairman of the rural all-party parliamentary group.