TEESDALE breathed a sigh of relief this week as a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease proved negative.

A spokesman for Defra said an initial test on a sheep at Hamsterley had given a false reading.

He described it as a blip that sometimes happened for no apparent reason. The tests had been re-done and had come back negative, which would be a relief.

Hamsterley was badly hit and is still suffering the effects of the disease, which devastated the community when it struck in February.

But just as County Durham was looking forward to being declared a disease-free zone, with no confirmed cases since June 3, there have been scares on other fronts.

A further 13 cases have been confirmed in the North Pennines area of Northumberland, which had also been clear for three months.

These outbreaks are on the doorstep of Weardale, which fared badly in the first wave of outbreaks.

The disease also continues its way through Cumbria, nibbling at the edge of Teesdale, with further confirmed cases at the Barras, South Stainmore, Warcop and Kirkby Stephen since last Friday.

Farmers in the dale had been looking forward to the lifting of restrictions, but hopes have now been dashed by Defra, whose spokesman added that there were no proposals to lift them.

"Given the tight bio-security and the way Northumbria is being handled, it would be inappropriate to begin lifting restrictions in the same region," he said.

"We will leave things alone until we have taken stock of the situation."