THE stately home famous for naming sirloin steak is having to turn away thousands of visitors due to the foot and mouth epidemic.

Preston's Hoghton Tower (pictured) could be facing huge losses after being forced to close acres of gardens and woodlands to prevent the spread of the disease.

Although the house remains open for functions, such as weddings, visitors are not allowed to walk in the picturesque grounds and have to enter the building across a disinfected mat.

Ironically, the 14th century tower is famous as the site where James I knighted a succulent joint of beef -- the source of the tourist attraction's latest crisis.

Now Hoghton Tower chiefs have cancelled a host of fun family events which usually attract hundreds of visitors from up and down the country and earn the stately home thousands of pounds each year.

The motorbike and sidecar race, planned for April 22, has been cancelled while visitors to the April 1 Doll's House Fair will only be permitted to enter the house for the event.

Another event to suffer is the Field Knot Muster, set for the May Bank Holiday weekend, when crowds are treated to a colourful battlefield re-enactment with armoured jousters.

Since the 1940s, when the historic house and its grounds opened to the public, thousands of people have journeyed to Hoghton Tower during the summer months. But this year visitors could be limited to the house only due to the foot and mouth crisis which has fit many areas of the country including a handful in Lancashire.

Administrative director at Hoghton Tower, Carol Chalmers, said: "It's sad that we have to cancel these events but we are taking strict advice from MAFF.

"We don't open until July but we are hoping to open at Easter for the house. We imagine that this is going to cost us thousands."