A MINING museum shut by the foot-and-mouth crisis is to open to school parties.
Killhope North of England Lead Mining Museum, in Weardale, County Durham, is on the edge of an area hit by the disease.
Since the museum closed in March, staff have been visiting schools. But tomorrow it will take its first school party, when about 40 children from Collingworth First School, in Bradford, arrive.
Pupils from the school visit Durham County Council's award-winning museum every year.
Manager Ian Forbes said a risk assessment had been carried out before deciding to allow schools to visit, and parties will come straight from school by bus, without coming into contact with livestock.
He said: "As a precaution, we will be disinfecting their vehicles. Taking all these factors into account, we feel we can safely accept school parties again.
"We don't yet have foot-and-mouth in this area of the dale and we don't want to tempt fate by opening up fully to the public. It's important that we take notice of what people around us are thinking, feeling and saying at the moment.
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