NORTH Yorkshire caravan site owners are keeping their fingers crossed for an Easter weekend bonanza - but the upturn will be too little, too late for businesses devastated by foot and mouth.

Overall takings at Moorside Caravan Park, Strensall, are down by half, but it will be full over the holiday.

Park warden Ken Dawson said: "It's going all right now, but it wasn't at first." He added that on balance they were optimistic about the situation.

Tony Stockdale, dairy farmer and owner of Vale of Pickering Caravan Park, said he was turning away hundreds of bookings for the long weekend, but the outlook for the rest of the year was bleak.

He said: "Nobody is booking forward any more. People used to book in January or February for holidays in August, but we haven't even got anyone for the May Day weekend. And no foreign tourists are coming at all."

Tony Patrick, arable farmer and site manager of Ponderosa Caravan Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, has lost approximately £2,300 of business since the crisis began.

He said: "We were closed until April 1 because we have deer wandering around and flocks of sheep nearby. All footpaths around here are closed and the council put disinfectant mats everywhere."

He forecast no end in sight for the crisis.

"Short of killing every animal in the country, they're not going to get it under control."

Some sites away from foot and mouth outbreaks have escaped the downturn, with Wrights of Seadale Caravan Camp, Filey, and Scalm Park Caravan Park, Selby, reporting business as normal. Cawood Holiday Park Caravan and Camping Centre, near Selby, was said to be full.

Those catering for urban holidaymakers are doing a brisk trade, such as Rawcliffe Manor Caravan Park, which usually attracts tourists visiting York.

Though business has slowed slightly, staff at Weir Caravan Park, Stamford Bridge, say they are waiting for the Easter weekend to assess exactly how the foot and mouth crisis is affecting them.

Alan Bishop, National Caravan Council director, said: "Parks up and down the country are open, ready and waiting for customers.

"With many areas of the country untouched by foot and mouth, there is nothing to stop caravanners making the most of the Easter break and enjoying the countryside and coast."

Updated: 11:04 Friday, April 13, 2001