Hopes are high among the farming community that the Government could be about to relax the crippling restrictions aimed at preventing a repeat of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Farmers say the 20 day standstill rule is too rigid and fear it could have a devastating effect on the industry during peak trading time in the autumn.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is pressing for alternatives to the rule and is calling on the Government to install tougher measures at ports and airports to stop infected meat entering the country.

After weeks of pressure, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is expected to make an announcement on Monday 29 on whether to ease the restrictions.

Kevin Pearce, the NFU's chief livestock advisor, said: "It is having a devastating impact on livestock farmers. It is just too rigid.

"We what we have to hope for is some sort of relaxation by Defra that will allow the industry to carry out its important functions of livestock trading."

The rule, which was introduced towards the end of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, means that if an animal is moved onto a farm, there can be no movement of livestock for almost three weeks.

The measures are in place so that if an animal developed foot-and-mouth or another animal disease there would be a higher chance of it being detected before it moved on.

But according to the NFU, some farmers have lost thousands of pounds because of the restrictions.

The real difficulty comes in the autumn when farmers can have around two months to buy and sell stock.

Richard Betton, a hill farmer from Teesdale, County Durham, said: "There are grave, grave concerns among all my neighbours about how they're going to manage to do the trading they all need to do.

"If you've got both cattle and sheep it's very difficult to make all the trading needed to run your business in those two months. "Instead we should be making the most of our island status and trying to keep the virus out."

A spokesman for Defra said they had been looking at a possible six day or 13 day standstill rule as an alternative.

"We'll be taking on board what the Royal Society and the Dr Iain Anderson inquiry's said and announcing our intentions on Monday," he said.