BELEAGUERED East Lancashire farmers face the prospect of another crisis with threat of foot and mouth disease. News that the outbreak could have begun on a Northumberland farm, now surrounded by a five-mile exclusion zone, was another blow, meaning the disease could be spreading through the North. Farmers and politicians are taking precautions and have banned all transport of livestock for a week. VIVIEN MASON reports. AUCTION mart organisers were taking no chances yesterday as they laid strips of disinfectant-soaked straw across the entrances to kill germs which may be lurking on wheels and tyres.

It was a valiant gesture by Clitheroe Auction Mart to protect customers from the devastating disease which would mean the slaughter of all sheep, goats, cattle and pigs on farms where a case is identified.

Gisburn Auction Mart, which holds its sales on Thursdays, is yet to follow suit and is waiting to hear if the exclusion zones spread to the North West.

Auctioneer and secretary to the mart, Richard Turner and Son Ltd, said: "We have no exclusion zone in Lancashire at the moment. Until we do we won't be taking any precautions."

Officials have hinted that all auctions may be closed to try and halt the spread.

So far, the North West is free of infection but there is no control over birds spreading the germs from area to area. It is thought starlings were responsible for the 1960s outbreak.

Jean Alpe, of New Laund Farm, Whitewell, remembers the 1960s outbreak which hit her father, George Thistlethwaite, of Horden Farm, Feniscowles.

"All the dairy cattle and sheep had to be slaughtered and the family was not allowed to leave the farm for six weeks," she said. "It was around six months before they were allowed to re-stock. I feel for those who have been affected. It is a terrible disease which brings communities to a standstill. No one goes anywhere and social events are cancelled." Gisburn farmer John Falshaw, of Shuttleworth Hall, is very worried. He said: "Already it is in two parts of the country, and, because stock is moved around much faster these days, if the disease does get going it will spread around very quickly."

George Simpson, of Champion Farm, Bolton-by-Bowland, said: "Everyone is wondering what will happen next to damage the already disastrous state of farming. Just as we all began to think there was a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, this happens."

The National Farmers' Union has called for vigilance all over Britain, and said the next seven days will be critical as exclusion zones are extended in an attempt to contain the disease around Essex and Northumberland.

This latest blow adds to the catalogue of disasters which have affected agriculture in Britain over the last few years, beginning with BSE and followed by the collapse of the British pork trade through cheaper foreign imports, the demise of veal trade due to a ban on live exports and the end of Government subsidies, and drops in sheep prices.

Now, many countries have imposed a ban on the export of British meat and milk products.

East Lancashire MPs have appealed for the public to help stop the spread by avoiding rambling round the countryside.

Nigel Evans, Gordon Prentice, Janet Anderson, Greg Pope and Peter Pike have joined forces across the political divide to stress the seriousness of the crisis and the need for non farmers to keep out of the way. Tory Mr Evans, whose rural Ribble Valley constituency could be badly hit, said: "Farming is already facing the worst crisis for 60 years. We must do all we can to isolate and exterminate the disease."

Pendle Labour MP Gordon Prentice, who spearheaded the drive to bring in the right to roam, said: "People should not walk round the countryside. This warning has been backed by the Ramblers' Association. The right to roam must be used responsibly and in the current circumstances not at all."