HARD-HIT youth hostels in the region could be forced to close because of losses caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) has reported £5m losses from its expected £30m income this year, and admitted it will have to close as many as 30 hostels next year to recoup the funds.

Hostel staff across the region are facing a tense six months as they wait to see if visitor numbers pick up in the wake of the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

Some hostels have reported devastating losses after being forced to close all year, with many battling to survive.

Hostels in the region have been the worst hit in the country, with average losses estimated at about 50 per cent, compared with a national average of 19 per cent.

Ray Milner, who co-runs the YHA Baldersdale hostel, in Teesdale, County Durham, said there had been no bookings all year.

He said: "We've been closed for the entire season, and in my six years at the hostel it is by far and away the worst year I've ever known.

"The forecast was very positive, we had a lot of bookings, but we had to cancel all of them, and we just don't know whether things will pick up next year.

"We may well have lost the core of our customers."

Many hostels have survived only because of support from the YHA and by transferring staff to other hostels in the region.

Ewan Boyd, who runs the YHA Langdon Beck hostel, in Upper Teesdale, has suffered a 50 per cent loss in takings.

He said: "We will survive, despite the struggle, but we need all the help we can get, whether it is through the Government or, as has already been confirmed, through the Countryside Agency.

"I think the £5m estimate is quite conservative, it is probably nearer the £7m mark.

"Public support has been overwhelming, but it's hard cash that the YHA needs if it is to limit the number of hostels that it will be forced to close.