THE Ramblers' Association is today calling on the Government to ensure a blanket closure of rural footpaths - a heavily criticised policy during the foot-and-mouth crisis - never happens again.

In its submission to the Lessons Learned inquiry into the epidemic, the charity criticises the "cavalier attitude" of local authorities in ordering a complete shutdown of the countryside.

Senior figures have demanded that a protocol on access to rural areas should be put in place, in case of future foot-and-mouth outbreaks.

The association said that if local authorities were to be given powers to close land outside the immediate vicinity of a disease outbreak, the closures should last no longer than two weeks and only be renewed by permission of the Agriculture Minister.

The demands follow the admission last October by the Government's rural recovery chief, Lord Haskins, that footpath closures were little more than "a cosmetic exercise" and did nothing to halt the spread of the disease.

A report by Newcastle University estimated footpath closures cost the tourist industry in the North-East £700m and businesses, such as the High Force Hotel, in Teesdale, blamed the policy for a 90 per cent drop in trade during the first four months of the crisis.

Nick Barrett, chief executive of the Ramblers' Association, said: "If the Government will not undertake a full public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth crisis, they must reassure us that the wholesale closure of the countryside will not happen again.

"This devastated the rural economy and exiled many from the countryside - in many areas, completely unnecessarily."

The association's response to the private Government inquiry also said 90 per cent of local authorities closed almost all rural paths in England and Wales, despite only 25 per cent of them actually experiencing an outbreak