A Weardale pig farmer was yesterday anxiously waiting to see if he had become the third victim of foot-and-mouth in County Durham.

Vets carried out a routine inspection on the farm in Hamsterley following confirmed outbreaks at Wolsingham and Witton-le-Wear.

As the D&S Times went to press - and the tally of confirmed cases rose to 31, with more expected - Mr Kenny Anderson was still waiting for the results.

Two farms at Egglestone were yesterday served with Class C notices, resulting in a five-mile restriction zone stretching to Barnard Castle and Cotherstone.

However it was stressed the measures were purely precautionary and ban the spread of manure or slurry and restrict entry and exit to one point.

Meanwhile outbreaks were confirmed at Longtown and Penrith in Cumbria and the first in Scotland, at Lockerbie. Northern Ireland also had its first two cases confirmed.

Officials expected to announce a further four confirmations yesterday and warned a further 40 farms in Scotland could be affected. Mercifully, North Yorkshire has so far remained clear.

Mr Nick Brown, Agriculture Minister, said the outbreak now affected every part of the UK and was extremely serious.

The National Farmers' Union yesterday warned that if the outbreak was not brought under control in three months, the cost to the food and farming industry would be three quarters of a billion pounds.

The loss from the export ban and restriction on movements of animals was estimated to be £21m in the first week and £38m if the rest of the supply chain was included.

The export ban alone could cost lamb producers £26m, pig roducers £17m and dairy farmers £8m a month.

The reduction in value of animals could cost £4m a month and extra feeding and housing costs due to keeping animals on farms would be £4m a month.

The loss of income from farm bed and breakfast, shops and diversifications could be at least £30m a month as people stay away from the countryside.

The GMB union estimates 60,000 jobs are at risk in the meat processing industry. One thousand workers have already been laid off and the union is concerned that statutory compensation pay provides a maximum of £16.70 for the first five days of the crisis.

The Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, has called on every parish in his diocese to pray on Sunday for those affected by foot and mouth.

This week hundreds of events have been cancelled in rural areas and the countryside was effectively shut to the public with thousands of miles of public footpaths, bridleways and moorland closed.

Ministers, farmers and interested organisations have all asked people to stay away from rural areas for the sake of the countryside and farmers.

The Kennel Club yesterday cancelled next week's Crufts event, Irish trainers were yesterday expected to vote to withdraw from the Cheltenham racing festival, and there was even speculation that a May General Election could be out of the question.

Independent butchers warned of possible closures next week unless emergency measures for the licensed movement of disease-free animals are approved by the government.

The disease had spread to Northern Ireland and there were fears that it might have crossed the border as police investigated the possibility of lamb smuggling.

The Republic of Ireland cancelled all football matches and five-mile queues were reported at the border as officials disinfected vehicle tyres.

There were reports that the French were ready to slaughter thousands of imported sheep; the Dutch had earlier slaughtered several hundred as a precaution; and Germany was sighing with relief that suspect imported sheep had been declared disease-free.

Anxiously awaiting the verdict on his own pigs in Hamsterley, Mr Anderson described the situation as "awful" but said vets had been happy with the state of the farm and the way his pigs were kept.

Mr Anderson's son, Derek, thanked the community for its "100pc" support and sympathy.

However, the governors of Hamsterley school decided to close the premises on Wednesday, and the school at Forest-in-Teesdale also shut following the two confirmed cases.

The outbreak at Wolsingham could spell financial ruin for Mr Peter Monkhouse, a local haulier who saw 40 of his sheep culled on Wednesday.

He attended Darlington mart last week where he is thought to have picked up an infected animal. As soon as he suspected a problem, he contacted MAFF.

Nothing was found on his premises or vehicles, but he stopped using his wagons on Friday, and they were totally disinfected and every precaution taken.

Speaking on behalf of Mr Monkhouse, who was very distressed by the news, was Mr Alec Turnbull, senior policy adviser with the NFU. He stressed that Mr Monkhouse was in no way to blame for the outbreak and had in fact been very vigilant.

"He is purely a haulier who holds sheep on occasions, and if anything it has been caused by stock that he picked up," he said. "He was holding a further 40 sheep, which have had to be burnt.

"Potentially we have a great problem in the area because sheep might have been traded several times."

"Everyone is extremely nervous and we all need to be even more vigilant without panicking. It is a matter of just being sensible and not worrying about the wider issues at the moment."

But chairman of Darlington auction mart, Mr John Earle, said they were still awaiting confirmation from MAFF that the infected sheep had been sold through the mart.

If the animal had foot-and-mouth he would have expected symptoms to be showing up at the farm where it originated before they showed up at Wolsingham.

"The probability is that it was infected in transit," he added. He pointed out that the Ministry had not made an inspection of or taken any samples from the mart.

A further case in Weardale was confirmed on Sunday afternoon at Thompson's abattoir in Witton le Wear, where animals were being routinely checked by a vet before slaughter.

Mr Mark Thompson said that he and his father, John, were pawns in the middle. They had had sheep through from more than one mart and were not sure yet where the infected one had come from.

The family abattoir has been trading for more than 40 years and was modernised about seven years ago to bring it in line with EEC standards.

He was devastated by the news, which had seen the entire abattoir stock of 80 cattle, 350 sheep and 140 pigs destroyed. "It has only just started to hit us, but we are still in shock," he said. "It has not really sunk in yet."

He was not sure what the future would hold, but felt the business might face closure.

"The ironic thing is that the slaughtering business is very competitive. If stock has to travel further to be slaughtered it will compound the problem. If there is any way we can afford to re-open we will."

Mr Thompson also expressed concern for his 22 loyal staff, whom he had had to lay off until further notice.

The situation in Teesdale this week was said to have gone from one of concern to one of desperation.