ROADS into Malham will be closed today as the foot and mouth nightmare returned with a vengeance: the number of confirmed cases rose by six to 15 over the weekend and a mere ten days since the first outbreak in the Settle area.

The Malham road closures are being made to enable a mass cull to take place and local farmers - who only two weeks ago thought they had survived unscathed - are dreading that the area might now face disaster on a Cumbrian scale.

The business community is also downhearted and is urging residents in the area to "shop local, drink local and eat out local" to support pubs and restaurants not in affected areas.

This week could prove critical. The NFU is urging a massive and fast response from MAFF to prevent the situation from getting totally out of hand. There is, however, one hopeful sign: weather forecasters are predicting four of five days of hot, dry weather and, like human 'flu, the foot and mouth virus is believed to thrive and spread faster in cool, wet conditions.

As one local farmer commented: "This is fingers crossed time."