THE foot-and-mouth outbreak has forced the cancellation of the biggest sheep sale in the country and left a multi-million pound hole in the economy of a rural community.

The Yorkshire Dales town of Hawes should have been preparing for the traditional two-day gimmer lamb sale, which was due to start on Monday.

The event is the biggest of its kind in the country.

Buyers from across Britain travel to the Dales for the sale of 30,000 breeding sheep.

The auction is worth more than £1.5m to local farmers.

Instead, a ban on the movement of livestock following a fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey means the event has been cancelled.

Bosses at Hawes Auction Mart were yesterday fielding call after call from farmers seeking advice on what to do next.

Mart director Andrew Pratt said: "It is a disaster all round.

"It has come at the worst possible time for us, for the farmers and for the local economy.

"Farmers rely on the money from these sales - it is their main paycheck of the year. When and how we are going to get the stock moved I don't know - we are in the hands of Defra."

This should be the busiest time of the year for the mart, with 75 per cent of its £10m annual turnover taken in the next six weeks.

However, it is expected that future sales will also be cancelled and there is growing concern about the impact on the wider community.

Without farmers' money from the sheep sales, it is feared businesses such as shops, feed merchants, vets and garages will suffer, along with the hotels and bed and breakfasts used by the buyers.

With farmers growing short of quality feed and lacking the money to buy more, there is also concern for the welfare of the animals