Bank holiday exodus begins

Many businesses in the countryside are still struggling

Holidaymakers are taking advantage of predicted good weather and are heading for resorts as the bank holiday exodus begins.

Tourism chiefs are hoping the bank holiday will signal the start of their recovery from the foot-and-mouth crisis as more countryside attractions are re-opened.

Thousands of rural businesses which have suffered severe hardship during the epidemic are waiting to see if the British public has heeded Prime Minister Tony Blair's message that the disease is finally on the wane.

Many holidaymakers looking for a weekend break were heading for the West Country, motoring organisations said.

Foot-and-mouth facts

Total number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in the UK 1,557 - 10 on Friday

2,429,000 animals have been slaughtered

112,000 animals awaiting slaughter

Easter saw a huge decline in visitor numbers to some of the countryside's top tourist areas and many businesses face financial ruin if the situation does not improve soon.

The English Tourism Council (ETC) has predicted only 14% of Britons plan to take a short break in the countryside during May but the dry, sunny weather forecast could persuade more people to get out and about.

In Devon, one of the worst-hit areas, more than 80 footpaths are re-opening in time for the bank holiday, giving access to 45% of the county's coastal paths.

Snowdon, Wales's tallest mountain, is re-opening for the first time since the crisis began more than two months ago but most of the Snowdonia National Park will remain closed.

Walkers in Snowdonia will have to disinfect their boots

A total of four paths - Miners, PYG, Watkyn and Llanberis - on Snowdon are being opened but walkers will still have to disinfect their boots.

A small part of Dartmoor National Park is also lifting its disease restrictions, as is the North York Moors National Park, where, following the installation of temporary cattle grids, a number of footpaths have been re-opened.

The National Trust has announced that 11 of its major properties will also be open in time for the bank holiday.

But there are still some areas which are very much closed for business.

Buckinghamshire, where there has not been a single case of foot-and-mouth, is still largely closed and in Lincolnshire, also not affected, all 4,000 footpaths are still closed.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has urged councils around the UK to re-open footpaths in areas where there have been no foot-and-mouth cases.

'Fool's paradise'

While Mr Brown insisted the disease was being brought under control, he acknowledged there was still an area of "intense infectivity" in Cumbria and stressed there was no room for complacency.

But Cumbrian farmer John Chester, whose herd of pedigree Jersey cattle were slaughtered on Wednesday, said politicians were "living in a fool's paradise" if they thought the disease was under control.

"Our knowledge on the ground is quite different - it's still going on apace. In this particular area we've had five cases in the past 30 hours," he told the BBC.

Anthony Gibson of the National Farmers' Union in the South West warned: "the battle is still very far from won".

Struggling businesses

The Cumbrian Tourist Authority has warned that if businesses do not receive financial help they will go bankrupt.

The ETC has said that without special aid, English tourism overall is likely to lose £5bn this year, £2.5bn next year and £1bn in 2003.

It has urged the government to do more to rescue struggling businesses.

ETC spokesman Ken Kelling said many rural businesses were still down on bookings.