AS farmers enjoy barbecues to celebrate the end of the ban of British beef exports, many local butchers are set to battle on for the right to sell beef of the bone.

Preston butcher James Wisdom, pictured, says he was almost crippled by the beef crisis after the government's beef on the bone ban was imposed more than 12 months ago.

James, who runs his own business in the Market Hall, Market Square, Preston, was forced to live off his savings to make ends meet and struggled to keep his 27-year-old business afloat.

He said: "If I hadn't have been as old as I am and in business for many years I would have found it very hard to cope.

"I know of many individual firms that have gone under because of the beef on the bone crisis which hit butchers very hard, particularly in the week after the ban was imposed.

"Although the lifting of the ban on British beef exports is good news for farmers and the beef industry, I would like to see the ban on beef on the bone come to an end."

It is more than three years since the European Union imposed a ban on British beef exports following fears of possible links between the 'mad cow' disease BSE and CJD among humans.

But last Sunday European Commission officials decided to resume exports of British beef following an inspection of the UK procedures for exporting deboned beef and beef products under the Date-based Export Scheme (DBES).

A Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson said: "We were advised in February that there was still a risk with beef on the bone.

"But we will review the situation at the end of August and maybe able to lift the ban providing the chief medical officer concludes that beef on the bone is safe for human consumption."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.