RESTRICTIONS to animal movements due to the foot-and-mouth crisis are to be eased, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced.

But, although they welcome the lifting of some restrictions, farmers still claim the prices being offered at slaughter houses are too low.

Animals outside the surveillance zones in "at risk" counties will no longer require blood tests ahead of autumn movement as a result of the changes, which are effective immediately, and draw many premises in line with disease-free counties.

Livestock inside surveillance zones, which have recorded clear blood tests during the previous 14 days as part of surveillance zone monitoring, will not require further testing before movement.

If no serology results are available, or if they are more than 14 days old, the flock will need testing.

The news comes as Defra prepares to declare the city of York and the district of Selby, North Yorkshire, foot-and-mouth free, as of today.

As of next Monday, Defra will also be grouping areas of the region together to allow better freedom of movement.

Defra says this will particularly benefit areas of Tyneside and Teesside, which are penned in by the region's high-risk areas, County Durham, North Yorkshire and Northumberland.

Newcastle and North Tyneside will join with Northumberland, while Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton will go in with County Durham, and Middlesbrough and Redcar will join North Yorkshire.

The final details are being put to farmers this week.

And a new single occupancy licence scheme will also come into force next Monday to allow more freedom of movement by farmers who own more than one holding within a 20km radius.

A visit by a Defra-appointed vet will determine whether the land is owned and managed by the same person and that adequate biosecurity measures are in place for animal transport.

However, if one of the premises is found to contain the disease, all animals will be deemed dangerous contacts and will be slaughtered.

Richard Betton, of the NFU, said: "I think the distance is too short to help a lot of farmers, but it's a step forward."

However, he added: "The bottom line still is that the prices being paid at slaughterhouses are an insult to farmers. They are pathetic, they are half of what they were last year."