FARMERS are being lumbered with extra costs over harvest time to comply with foot-and-mouth restrictions - even though they have twice been given the all-clear.

Movement restrictions have been in place on hundreds of holdings in County Durham since the early days of the epidemic, with no sign they will be lifted, although there have been no cases in the county for two months.

Now there is mounting concern over the burden farmers are having to shoulder, both in the time and cost of meeting Government requirements.

John Stephenson's Bradley Burn Farm, near Wolsingham, has been under a D Notice, banning movement of livestock or vehicles without a licence, since March 25.

He said: "Obviously, it means a lot of extra paperwork, even though there haven't been any outbreaks in Durham since June 3, and none locally since early April.

"With harvest time approaching it is going to cause us extra work, lots of licences and lots of time spent disinfecting, which is bound to slow the whole process down. It means we would probably have to take on extra staff.

"I know they are still concerned about the risk but I would hate to think it was just a question of them getting their act together."

He said his livestock had twice been blood-tested but had proved negative both times.

Weardale councillor John Shuttleworth said he had originally been told the restrictions would be lifted by the weekend, but this had proved a false hope.

He said: "They just don't seem to care that this is people's livelihoods and it is causing major problems to keep these restrictions in place.

"It is putting more stress on farmers and I want to see these restrictions lifted as soon as possible."

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said more than 250 holdings within a five-mile radius of Wolsingham were still under restrictions.

He said they had been working flat-out to carry out risk assessments so restrictions could be lifted.

He said: "We are winning the battle by being thorough and checking, but everything that is possible is being done to alleviate this situation."

Read more about the foot-and-mouth crisis here.