AN ORGANISATION known for vigorous campaigning on access to the countryside said yesterday that hostilities will cease during the foot-and-mouth crisis - even though officials admit some footpaths need not be closed.

Many of the local authorities fighting the battle to prevent the disease spreading have imposed blanket bans on people using footpaths.

But the reason is not that all paths put livestock at risk - it is because there is neither the time nor the resources to assess each route.

Wholesale closures are more speedy to enforce and easier to police - although discrepancies have occurred as a result.

Recent examples include a golf course open to players but not to walkers wishing to use a footpath across the fairway, and a football match held on a pitch next to a popular riverside walk which was closed to the public days before.

The Ramblers' Association said yesterday that, while the crisis was at its height, its policy would be caution rather than confrontation.

"Some of our groups were advising their members to stay away from farmland even before Maff intervened," said Claire Madron.

The Ramblers Association's Right to Roam campaign has been a thorn in the side for landowners during recent months, inspiring new legislation to open moors and heaths to the public.

Ms Madron said: "We have no intention of contributing to the crisis or exacerbating the situation.

"We see our role as an advisory one, assisting the public and remaining flexible as efforts to control the disease continue."