AS reported in today's Stop Press, the A65 trunk road, the busiest in the Dales, will be closed for at least three hours - and possibly all day - as troops and Government officials launched one of the biggest post-cull operations yet seen in the so-called Settle rectangle.

The road closure was imposed to allow the movement of animal carcasses following massive culls in the Gargrave area - on just one Gargrave farm, 600 sheep and 200 cattle were slaughtered.

North Yorkshire police said at 9 am today that the road - the major link between Yorkshire's industrial cities and holiday spots in the Dales and Lake District - would be closed between Skipton and Gargrave for at least three hours "and possibly all day if more time is required."

Motorists are advised to take the A59 Preston road from Skipton and turn right to Gargrave at Broughton.

Two more cases were reported in the Settle-Clitheroe area overnight, bringing the total to 68.

The decision to close such an important traffic route, the first major by the newly created Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which has replaced MAFF, is seen as a signal that the new ministry is prepared to move quickly and take whatever steps necessary to bring the disease under control.