UNLESS more farm animals are allowed to be moved, there could be a deeper agriculture disaster, a hill farmer warned this week.

Many hill farmers are struggling to cope with excessive numbers of animals on their farms because of foot-and-mouth movement restrictions.

Mr Alastair Davy, spokesman for the Hill Farming Initiative, has warned of a deepening disaster unless the government allows a relaxation on movements.

Mr Davy, who farms near Marrick in Swaledale, is already using next winter's forage to feed his own surplus stock.

"I know a whole series of people with 100 more cattle than they normally have at this time and Lord knows how many extra sheep," he said.

While they are totally missing out on their normal income from sales they are also faced with extra feed costs.

"The real problem is getting the animals moving which will get the money circulating again," he said. "If this problem is not tackled now, it will not matter if they beat foot-and-mouth as far as these farms are concerned."

The government had to find a way to allow these farms to move their livestock.

Mr Davy suggested that hill farmers could perhaps make a legal agreement with their buyers, who could make a down payment for the animals to stay on the farm.

"Without income, bills cannot be paid, and if something is not done quickly the banks may start asking how long they can keep on lending money," he said.