Foot and mouth restrictions were lifted today in another part of North Yorkshire.

Nearly 3,000 farms were released from infected area controls around Skipton at midnight, following extensive tests which suggested the area was clear of the disease.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Disease Control Centre said: "This is excellent news for North Yorkshire and is an important step towards farming and tourism industries getting back to business as usual.

"The lifting of infected area status will go a long way to reassuring people that all the effort expended to beat foot and mouth disease and the hardship they have endured has been worthwhile."

The lifting of restrictions puts North Yorkshire on the road to achieving "at risk" status and becoming closer to being foot and mouth free.

But the northern infected area, which stretches into the county from Cumbria, is still in place, meaning North Yorkshire continues to have a high risk status.

And farmers continue to be urged to practice strict measures on their farms to protect from disease.

"Strict biosecurity remains essential," said the spokesperson.

"Only if everyone maintains the current level of vigilance can this disease finally be eradicated."

The Selby area has been split from the rest of North Yorkshire and has a foot and mouth free status.

Updated: 14:36 Tuesday, November 20, 2001