FAKE signs claiming that public rights of way onto Ingleborough summit were open could have been "disastrous", claimed county councillor David Ireton.

He said four or five fake footpath open signs had been posted around the area.

Coun Ireton thanked vigilant Chapel-le-Dale farmer Carol Gardener for alerting him to the signs on Saturday morning.

He contacted police and the national park who removed the signs quickly.

Coun Ireton said: "I fully understand the frustration of traders and the people that want to go walking on the fells, but with the amount of livestock on the lower fells, it could have been disastrous."

Jon Avison, head of park management at Yorkshire Dales National Park, said: "Someone has gone out of their way to put up fake signs falsely indicating that a number of routes have been opened. This action is nothing short of deplorable and will only serve to confuse the public.

"We should be focussing our efforts on how best we can help farmers and tourist industries and not chasing around after irresponsible individuals and taking down these fake signs.

"The county council is taking this matter very seriously and the signs will be taken to the police for fingerprinting."

Open rights of way have been marked with green 'open' signs and have a blue North Yorkshire County Council logo in the bottom right corner. If the public is unsure about whether a sign is legitimate or not they should call 01609 532245 for assistance.

Police also had to intervene over the weekend where walkers had ignored closure signs and gone into restricted areas.

County councillor Alex Bentley said local farmers were distraught by the fact that people had been roaming about on their land. One farmer in Upper Wharfedale had approached walkers who believed that the countryside was not closed and they were not doing any harm (see letters column).

Andrew Osborne from the Yorkshire Dale National Park Authority said that a number of rights of way in the Settle, Austwick and Malham areas that had been opened just before the last bank holiday had been re-closed.

Those away from the infected areas will remain open. Up to date information can be found at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk or any of the national park centres in Clapham, Grassington and Malham.

Agreement has been reached between Lancashire County Council and Pendle Borough Council to begin opening footpaths in parts of the Pendle district.

Footpaths that are suitable to be re-opened will be signposted as open. More information can be found on www.pendle.gov.uk

The council's countryside access officer Tom Partridge said: "The majority of Pendle district including Pendle Hill is in an infected area and there is still a risk that the disease may spread through the illegal use of closed footpaths."