A bride told last night how she had been forced to postpone her wedding because of the foot-and-mouth crisis gripping the Yorkshire Dales.

Susan Read, of Hartlington, near Skipton, had been due to marry her fiance Jeremy Stockdale on Saturday but the couple have been forced to call off the wedding because of fears of spreading the disease - which has now been confirmed at an 18th farm in the area.

She said: "The reception was going to take place in a village right in the heart of the outbreak and we just thought it was too big a risk.

"So many of our guests come from farming backgrounds and we just couldn't afford to have somebody going back to a previously uninfected area carrying the disease.

"We were initially disappointed at having to cancel the weeding but we know we're doing the right thing."

Mr Stockdale, who runs a farm in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, said it was hoped the wedding could now be held in August.

The postponement comes on the heels of confirmation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) of an outbreak at Friars Head Farm, Gargrave, between Skipton and Settle.

About 200 Maff personnel have been drafted in to cope with the outbreak, including 40 vets and technical assistants.