A DANBY Wiske publican who has lost £43,000 in trade because of the slump in tourism caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis, has asked the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs to accommodate some of its visiting vets in his village pub.

Mr Frank Phillips, owner of the White Swan, contacted Defra after he was dismayed to read in last week's D&S Times that some larger hotels in Northallerton and Thirsk were heavily booked with an estimated 80 British and overseas vets.

"I got a bit frustrated when I read about Defra's block bookings in the bigger hotels and thought about what it must be costing," Mr Phillips said this week..

He contacted Defra's emergency centre in Leeds, where a receptionist took his details.

He was contacted on Tuesday by a Defra officer, Mr Matthew Carver, who said small B&B hotels were in fact being used for the vets. He was seeking six nights' accommodation for one vet, who has now booked in to the White Swan, much to Mr Phillips' delight.

"We run a traditional pub and have had a very quiet summer. There would normally have been about 5,000 visitors coming through Danby Wiske, but there's been only a handful this year," he said.

In addition to running the pub with four guest bedrooms, he and his wife, Doreen, have another three B&B sites.

"Danby Wiske is on the coast-to-coast walk, but this summer's trade is down 60pc. The pub normally does well with tourists and also benefits from our other B&B operations - but not this year.

"At the moment, we are surviving on local trade, which we are grateful for. We have held various functions here, but these take a lot of organising.

"Our problems will become worse in the winter, because that is the quiet season when we normally depend on summer takings.

"We received a £3,000 hardship grant from Yorkshire Forward and might apply for £15,000, but we will have to wait for the next round of applications. Hambleton council has been good to us. Our rates have been deferred but we will soon have to start paying again."

Mr and Mrs Phillips previously ran Romanby post office for 18 years. They have been at the White Swan for two years.

l In a separate development, it is understood that two government workers from Newcastle were unable to find accommodation in the Northallerton area, after they left one hotel following a dispute over bedrooms.

The two women from the intervention board were visiting the Defra offices in Northallerton over a period of two weeks. It is understood they commuted daily by car from Newcastle - a round trip of more than 100 miles.

Right, Mr Phillips outside the White Swan - D&