THE spectre of foot-and-mouth disease returned last night as Government officials confirmed they were investigating a suspected fresh outbreak of the disease in the region.

Five months after the last confirmed case, ministry scientists announced that two sheep have been slaughtered at a farm in North Yorkshire and livestock movement restrictions have been re-imposed.

Suspect lesions - one of the prime indicators of the disease - were discovered in the mouths of animals at a farm at Hawnby, near Thirsk.

The discovery, six weeks after the country was finally declared free of the disease, will send shock waves through rural communities which now face a tense wait of up to four days for foot-and-mouth to be confirmed.

The farm at the centre of the suspected outbreak was sealed off by the ministry yesterday. Livestock movements within a five-mile radius of the village have been banned and officials are tracing the four farms which supplied sheep to the premises and which will themselves be placed under restrictions.

In August last year, 2,000 sheep and 145 cattle at the affected farm were slaughtered as part of the "dangerous contact" programme designed to halt the disease's progress.

Ministry scientists returned yesterday morning for the routine inspection required by the ministry when farms restock and discovered symptoms.

Samples were taken for urgent testing to the Institute for Animal Health laboratory at Pirbright in Surrey.

Animal welfare minister Elliot Morley said last night that it was too early to say for sure whether it was the first case of the disease since September.

"The laboratory tests - which can take between four and 96 hours - will need to be completed first," he said.

However, he added: "We must take no chances with this very infectious disease.

"This suspect case underlines the need for farmers and vets to remain vigilant during the restocking period and during the lambing season, and to maintain high standards of biosecurity."

The 48-year-old farmer at the centre of the scare had been gradually restocking, building up a flock of 400 sheep.

Last night, farmers' leaders remained hopeful the tests would prove negative.

A National Farmers' Union spokesman said: "This is naturally very worrying for all of us, but although lesions can be a major indicator of foot-and-mouth disease they can also be symptoms of many other things."

At the Hornby Hotel, the village pub used by many local farmers, barman Andy Kane said: "This is terrible news. It's cast a cloud over the village.

"We suffered really badly through foot-and-mouth. All the livestock around here was culled. The idea that it could have returned is terrible."

Teesdale hill farmer Richard Betton, vice chairman of the NFU's Hill Farming Committee, said: "It's early days, but obviously it is a concern and worrying for the farming community.

"We were warned by the veterinary service that there was a serious risk of a resurgence of the disease as we get nearer to lambing.

"It is a concern, but this is not the time to panic - we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed."

Ryedale's Tory MP John Greenway last night urged Government ministers to make an emergency statement if the tests proved positive.

"Our thoughts are very much with the farmer concerned and those in the surrounding area, who must be very apprehensive," he said.

The last confirmed case of foot-and-mouth in North Yorkshire was in August at Whitby. The disease, which began a year ago this month at Heddon-on-the-Wall, in Northumberland, and ended with 2,000 confirmed cases, claimed the lives of about six million animals, cost the farming industry more than £900m and the tourism industry an estimated £4.25bn.

The threat of a resurgence of the disease could not have come at a worse time - as the tourist and farming industries gear up for a critical spring and the auction marts reopen for the first time.

Shadow rural affairs secretary Peter Ainsworth said: "Obviously everyone will sincerely hope and pray that this is not a resurgence of foot-and-mouth.

"However, this incident underlines the critical importance of the need to maintain vigilance. No one would want to repeat the traumatic scenes of last year."

If sample tests proved positive, the results could be known as early as today. It would take longer to confirm a negative result because further testing is required.