FARMERS have welcomed the easing of foot-and-mouth restrictions in some of the areas that were among the hardest-hit by the disease earlier this year.

Almost 8,500 landowners in North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Lancashire and Cumbria have been told they can now move livestock stranded in fields back to their farms for wintering in barns.

Farmers who want to send animals for slaughter will also have a greater number of abattoirs to choose from, while those selling beasts for fattening can also expect transactions to be easier to arrange.

"Farmers will still need to get licences from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs before they can move their livestock and there will still be a number of restrictions affecting the region," said Laurie Norris, the National Farmers' Union policy advisor.

"However, this marks an important step forward for the region to ultimately be granted disease-free status.

"It is also important to remind everyone in the farming industry to maintain high levels of bio-security in case we have a resurgence of the disease.

"It is only with everyone's cooperation that we can rid ourselves of this pestilence which has wreaked havoc on the industry."