An environment chief warned today that world-famous Ilkley Moor could remain shut until the end of the year because of the foot and mouth crisis.

The news has dealt a blow to the popular town which draws thousands of visitors a year, many from overseas.

Areas throughout the Bradford district - including Baildon Moor - re-opened at the weekend after the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it wanted wide-scale restrictions lifted.

But Ilkley Moor has remained shut because it is still in a three kilometre protection zone from Hill Top Farm - the root of the foot and mouth outbreak in Middleton.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council's executive member for the Environment, said Defra has now decided the farm needed secondary disinfection because of inconclusive tests.

But she said today the freezing of secondary cleansing by Prime Minister Tony Blair meant the future for Ilkley Moor as a tourist trap this year looked bleak.

She said: "There were hopes that the moor could be opened very shortly, but that isn't likely to happen now.

"It is now going to be a long drawn out process because secondary cleansing is needed. And as if this wasn't bad enough Tony Blair's halt on the process means the moors could remain a protected zone until the end of the year.

"This is very bad news for everyone, especially the rural industries. We want to do everything we possibly can to help them."

Ilkley hotelier Tim Edwards, who has seen his business plummet by 60 per cent because of foot and mouth disease, said if the moor did not re-open businesses would almost certainly lay off staff.

He said: "I think it will be 12 months before we know who is going to weather the storm.

"The big established businesses can afford to have their turnover down for a few weeks. It's much more serious for smaller businesses."

Mr Edwards, owner of Westwood Lodge, added: "The only business we are getting is if people have got to come for the tennis tournament or book there."

He said conference bookings - a mainstay of his business - were also down.

Fusions Training Limited, an Ilkley-based team and leadership development company, said it too had been affected by the crisis and criticised the slow process in re-opening the rights of way.

A Defra spokesman said he expected secondary cleansing to be shelved for only a short time.