An emergency campaign will be launched today to overturn a government decision to re-open all local footpaths despite new foot and mouth cases.

It is being led by Worth Valley Councillor Kris Hopkins who believes that Bradford Council should be allowed to remain in control of local footpath closures.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has taken the powers to close footpaths away from the council and will be re-opening all paths on Friday July 27.

This comes as the disease is beginning to invade the Keighley district, with the fourth case of the virus confirmed yesterday near Silsden.

Cllr Hopkins will be out at the weekend collecting signatures on a petition aimed at overriding the decision and reclaim the council's powers to protect uninfected open areas.

Executive Member of Bradford Council for Health and Housing, Cllr Hopkins, said: "The Government should give the local authority the powers to keep selected areas across the district closed. By lifting the emergency legislation, they have removed the powers to stop the public walking along rights of way."

"At the beginning of this crisis, one unconfirmed case in Queensbury resulted in the entire district been deemed 'infected'.

"We now have four confirmed cases in Keighley and the great brains in London say open all your footpaths, despite the fact, we in Keighley, are seeing this plague just beginning to take hold.

"We shall we asking members of the public to sign a petition over the weekend to send to Margaret Beckett the Secretary of State for the Environment on Monday. "

As from midnight next Friday the council will only have the power to close footpaths within three kilometres of confirmed cases.

Countryside from Haworth to Culling-worth and Stanbury to Oakbank Moor is a high risk area and was closed and treated as if it was infected, but next week it will all be reopened.

In a private meeting in Bradford on Wednesday DEFRA rejected Bradford Council's request to defer the decision on opening footpaths regardless of new cases being confirmed daily.

A spokesman from DEFRA said: "Some local authorities have kept the countryside closed up to local people and businesses are been severely damaged.

"This is the thinking behind it being reopened and the blanket ban being lifted. We will be opening up areas where it is safe to do so, clearly we will not be opening up infected areas."

Objections to the decision were raised by council chiefs, representatives from the National Farmers Union and tourism bosses.

Oakworth farmer Briony Partridge said: "This fills me with fury and despair.

"This week, just at the time when foot and mouth is as close to us as it has been all through the epidemic, they are saying that the footpaths must be re-opened.

"This defies all common sense and logic. I am disgusted.

"There may be some paths that could be safely opened, but we have seen all too clearly that this virus hasn't heard that it is supposed to restrict itself to a three km exclusion zone."

Cllr Anne Hawkesworth said: "We have sent a second letter to DEFRA yesterday morning to ask them to reconsider taking away these powers. We have made the point that we should also have the power to keep 'defined' high risk areas in the district closed."

A spokesman for the National Farmers Union said: "I hope that any plans to open footpaths will be seriously and thoroughly considered - especially in the most susceptible areas."