FEARS over foot-and-mouth have failed to stop a popular dance and music weekend going ahead.

The annual Teesdale Thrash will be taking place in Barnard Castle, County Durham, between May 4 and 7, and is expected to draw hundreds of visitors to the market town during the bank holiday weekend.

But some members of Teesdale District Council's community services committee voiced their concerns about organisers using the town's Demesnes area for camping.

For the past 13 years, performers have used the upper Demesnes as a camping area.

Because of foot-and-mouth hitting parts of Teesdale, the upper field has been closed to the public and members agreed that the lower Demesnes could be used instead.

Councillor Jo Fergus said: "I'm rather concerned about this. I think we are running a dangerous course in using the Demesnes when the disease is so close."

The committee voted in favour of using the lower Demesnes, subject to a later decision by the management team which will assess the foot-and-mouth situation.

Karen Tranter, of the Teesdale Thrash committee, said: "This is great news, because we need the Demesnes for our performers to camp, but all the activities will take place in the town, not in the countryside."