BLACK-faced sheep which are as synonymous with the North Yorkshire Moors as its thousands of acres of moorland heather, have survived the threat of foot and mouth disease and last weekend enjoyed the lush green grass, despite the flurries of snow.

Hailstones and heavy snow showers made driving conditions treacherous on the moors in the upper Ryedale area, catching hundreds of motorists unaware.

Now, with much of the public footpath network in the park open after the FMD outbreak, walkers are returning to enjoy the countryside in the autumn sunshine.

The national park's southern area forum meeting at Thornton-le-Dale was told by Peter Barfoot, the park authority's services officer, that the Government was allocating money to restore public footpaths in the wake of the FMD outbreak as part of a rural revival scheme.

There had been no new cases of the disease since August 17 in the park, but he added there would be limited restrictions on certain rights of way for some months.

By the end of this month, added Mr Barfoot, North Yorkshire would be transferred from a 'high risk' to an 'at risk' area by DEFRA.

Farmers in the upland areas of the park had warned that if the famous moorland flocks of sheep had been hit by FMD the whole landscape could deteriorate.

Coun Herbert Tindall, vice-chairman of the park authority, said the flocks were vital to retaining the heather, otherwise the moors would be taken over by bracken.

"We would then see the very landscape tourists come to enjoy lost because it takes years to get the traditional flocks back onto the moors. In some cases there are several generations of sheep in one flock," said Coun Tindall.

Updated: 12:51 Thursday, November 15, 2001