FOOTPATHS in a vast area of central Lake District have been re-opened to the public in a move which it is hoped will boost the beleaguered tourist trade, but has sparked concern among some farmers.

On Wednesday, foot-and-mouth restrictions were lifted from an area stretching from the A66 in the north down to just south of Windermere, as well areas in the north of the county around Alston and Hadrian's Wall.

These newly re-opened areas mean that around 65 per cent of the national park is free of the restrictions imposed in March and more than 1,000 miles of Cumbria's paths are open as normal.

Walkers are being urged to follow a Walkers' Code, which includes avoiding livestock and farm yards, using disinfectant where it is provided and heeding any disease control signs including path diversions.

Chris Collier, chief executive of Cumbria Tourist Board, described the move as extremely important for tourism in the county.

"It's great to be standing out here on the grass at low level, which is something we haven't been able to do for five months," she said at the re-opening launch in Langdale.

She added that re-opening so much of the popular Lakeland landscape meant that the area could cater for walkers, climbers and cyclists of all standards and abilities, and that operators were looking forward to welcoming back friends old and new.

Eric Taylforth, who farms at the bottom of the Langdale Pikes, welcomed the re-opening saying that visitors were desperately needed back in the valley.

"Its crucial for everybody in Cumbria for these paths to be open and for us all to get back to a normal way of life and show to people that this is a clean area and the disease has been as close as it's going to come."

Mr Taylforth also does bed and breakfast, lets out two holiday cottages, and relies on selling his lamb to visitors, and so the foot-and-mouth crisis has hit him doubly hard.

"There's no money in farming at the moment, and tourism's going to be our life-line," he added.

The Outdoors Industries Association, which represents manufacturers and retailers of outdoor clothing, also believes the new areas of access will help the industry, which has been badly hit during the crisis.

But Sheila Black, who farms at Kentmere, is annoyed that they only found out their land was included in the area now designated as open when the closure notices were taken down on Wednesday afternoon.

"I don't see how we can be in an infected area where we have to apply for a licence to even move sheep across the road, but yet the footpaths are open."

She said that most farms were heavily over-stocked, and with movement restrictions still in place, they couldn't even move livestock away from the fields likely to be used by walkers.

Mrs Black is also worried that any influx of walkers and their vehicles into the valley will leave it vulnerable to the disease, which farmers had worked hard to prevent coming into Kentmere, even setting up their own disinfectant station to stave it off.

She added: "The type of walkers we get here come up from Manchester in their car with a packed lunch, walk all day and then go back home without contributing a penny to this area.

The tourism industry isn't going to benefit at all from these kind of visitors."

l A leaflet 'Cumbria and the Lake District - open paths and where to walk, climb and cycle' detailing which areas are open is available at Tourist Information Centres and libraries, and on the county council and Lake District National Park Authority websites: www.cumbria.gov.uk or www.lake-district.gov.uk.

l In addition to the three newly-opened areas, many other lowland footpaths and sites are open.

For details log onto www.cumbria.gov.uk/pathways