THE death knell sounded for more than 22,000 Dales animals this week as foot and mouth struck Craven's farming community.

Everyday life has been thrown into chaos with eight farms to date being confirmed as infected premises and 30 more holdings classed as either dangerous contact or contiguous sites.

Families which have farmed the Dales for generations are in a state of shock after thousands of cattle and sheep, including many pedigree animals, were wiped out by the disease.

Vets from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are assessing the risk to other farms before deciding on the future of local herds. Regional director Steve Hunter warned that the number of animals killed could rise by another 10,000.

Movement in the area is also being tightly restricted with holdings within a three-kilometre radius of infected premises being handed D-notices, which means livestock can only be moved under licence.

The foot and mouth crisis first hit Craven late last Thursday with the news that cattle with clinical signs of the disease had been found at Alec Robinson's Cowside Farm on the hills above Langcliffe near Winskill Stones.

This was the first confirmed case to develop in North Yorkshire for two weeks. Nationally it was case number 1,575.

By Friday the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Two more cases were confirmed - Lower Winskill Farm on the outskirts of Langcliffe, owned by Tom Lord, and at Close House, Giggleswick, among a herd operated by Robert Booth, of Hesley Hall, Rathmell.

By mid-morning the road from the village of Langcliffe up the hillside had been closed by the police, with access only being given to the army and MAFF personnel.

On Saturday, two more cases were confirmed at Low Trenhouse on Malham Moor, owned by Mark and Suzanne Throup, and on fields adjacent to Stainforth, owned by Richard and Tracey Newhouse, of Rowe End Cottage, Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Slaughtering of animals took place all over the weekend and then on Monday two more cases were confirmed among animals at Borrins Farm, Stackhouse, owned by John Dugdale and Son, and livestock belonging to Jimmy Newhouse and brothers in a field one kilometre away from Stackhouse Farm.

An eighth case was announced on Wednesday at Sannet Hall, Stainforth, owned by John Preston.

Settle's Whitefriars car park has been closed to the public throughout the week and has become a make-shift base for transportation wagons and army personnel. Several roads have also been closed off around the area with limited access to Malham Moor.

Stephen Dew, of the National Farmers' Union, told the Herald many farmers in the area were being subjected to a "terrible waiting game".

He said: "On Malham Moor at the moment the implications are huge in terms of the sheep farms up there.

"Many farmers have just been left waiting while decisions are made on neighbouring culls. The worst thing is that they just don't know what is going to happen."

However, Mr Dew added: "There is a flip side to this. The fact is the farmers are having to wait because MAFF are deliberating very thoroughly on what action to take. They are not just wading in there.

"They are acting on the best advice and test results and taking a very careful and considered approach."

Mr Dew added that MAFF vets were currently out and about on farms following up any suspected cases and assessing if there was any infection.

"There's been a lot of false alarms because as soon as farmers see a lame cow, which is an ordinary livestock ailment, they automatically think it's foot and mouth. Obviously, there's a lot of anxiety around at the moment."