RESTRICTIONS on a dale's farms are on the verge of being lifted as foot-and-mouth tests have so far proved negative.

The move will make it easier for farmers to get a better price for their livestock - and will also see rural businesses benefit from a reopening of the countryside.

Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which replaced Maff, have been carrying out blood tests on some of the 55,000 sheep in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.

A spokeswoman said that with 12,000 sheep tested so far, they expected to complete the work by next week.

She said: "So far, the results are negative and we are fairly optimistic that we will be able to lift the restrictions.

"We do not test all the sheep, we do a representative sample of each flock, and so far we are about half way through."

If tests prove negative, Wensleydale will lose its infected area status and restrictions on movement and restocking will be relaxed, although some will still be in force.

The spokeswoman said: "We are trying to free up every area of the country where there has been an infection and where they are now clean, to allow them to get on with farming."

She said once tests in Wensleydale were complete, they would move into Swaledale.

National Farmers' Union North-East policy advisor Laurie Norris said movement restrictions mean farmers can only sell their livestock to a small number of abattoirs.

She said: "This will make a big difference to farmers and it could add another ten to 15 per cent on to the prices they get.

"And in infected areas every movement has to be under licence, not just animals but machinery as well, so this means farmers would be able to start getting back to normal."

She said the end of infected area status will also mean the countryside can be marketed to walkers and tourists.

A new case of foot-and-mouth was confirmed yesterday at Hellifield, near Skipton, North Yorkshire

Read more about foot-and-mouth here.