PETER Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) is making a fact-finding visit to Hawes Auction Mart tomorrow (Tuesday).

He will hear what impact the latest foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey is having on hill farmers in Yorkshire and the North of England.

Hawes mart should have enjoyed Britain's largest sale of breeding lambs today and tomorrow.

But the two day sale - which normally sees £2m exchange hands and which represents the biggest pay day in the calendar for around 500 local farmers - had to be cancelled due to fmd restrictions.

Mr Kendall will meet around 20 farmers from across Yorkshire and the Durham Dales to hear at first hand the difficulties they are experiencing.

Malcolm Corbett, Northumberland farmer and chairman of the North East NFU regional livestock board, has warned that the region's livestock industry could be "crippled" unless some livestock movements are allowed soon.

Mr Corbett has urged the Government to ease movement restrictions in areas well away from Surrey as soon as possible.

There are more than 4,000 hill farmers in Yorkshire and the North-East - 1,469 in Durham and Northumberland and 2,832 in Yorkshire.

During the next six weeks it is estimated that 162,000 cattle and sheep were due to be traded in Durham and Northumberland and a further 201,000 in Yorkshire.

The main autumn sales represent the main source of income for hill farmers and, with little grass left on the uplands due to the poor summer, there are real environmental and animal welfare concerns.

Mr Corbett said the containment and eradication of fmd was top priority but urged the government to carefully consider the plight of upland farmers.

He said: "Around 60 per cent of Yorkshire and the North-East area is classed as upland, so it is easy to see that our region is potentially one of the hardest hit areas outside the south-east where foot and mouth has been found."

Andrew Pratt, chairman of Hawes mart and a local farmer, said the suspension of the two day sale would affect around 1,000 people from across the country, including buyers and sellers.

He said: "It is a huge blow. The lambs are our crops and this is our harvest time."