Prime Minister Tony Blair was on the campaign trail in Haworth -- not to win the next election, but in his battle to convince the world that Britain's tourist trade was still open for business.

Mr Blair, with his wife Cherie at his side, toured the Bront Parsonage Museum, one of the most popular holiday hotspots in the UK for American and Japanese visitors.

Speaking from the steps of the museum, which was once the home of the three Bront sisters, he justified the need to keep the moorland out of bounds to walkers.

Tourists are barred from walking to Top Withens, where Emily Bront is said to have set her novel Wuthering Heights.

"There are still plenty of magnificent houses and homes to visit, but we must concentrate on eradicating this outbreak as quickly as possible," said Mr Blair.

He claimed the issue was getting blown out of all proportion.

"Some of the images can get completely out of perspective. It is a very serious problem, but the vast majority of the countryside is unaffacted," he said.

Mr Blair arrived in Haworth on Friday on a whistle stop tour of Yorkshire, having earlier visited the Jorvic Viking Centre in York.

Among the throng of Press were reporters from France, Germany and Japan, whom Mr Blair told were getting a false picture of the impact of the foot and mouth outbreak on the British countryside.

He told them: "We love having you here, and everything you wish to do you can do, so long as people stay away from livestock areas."

He stressed that there was still plenty to do and see in Britain's towns and countryside.

He had earlier toured the Bront Parsonage with Mrs Blair and curator Rachel Terry after paying the £9.60 entrance fee.

He revealed that he had just finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront for the second time.

But he had to bow to his wife's superior knowledge of the Bronts, confessing that "Cherie is the expert."

In the exhibition room they met Nottinghamshire couple Hans and Janet Bander, who told the Blairs that they had not been put off by the foot and mouth epidemic.

"We usually enjoy walking, but we were not put off coming to Haworth. We plan to visit the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, spend time in the village and visit Saltaire," they said.

After leaving the museum, the Blairs moved on to Haworth station on the Keighley and Worth Valley heritage steam railway.

It is one of the few tourist locations which is not feeling the pinch.

Nick Bennett, the chairman, said: "I think we're getting people who can't go elsewhere. We've had two parties who have come to us, having originally planned to go somewhere else."

But most other tourist haunts in the village are feeling the pinch, and the slump is reflected in the number of visitors using the bed-booking service at Haworth Tourist Information Centre.

Manager Tricia Tillotson said: "Bed bookings made here are down by 20 per cent compared with the same period last year."

She said there was a fall in the number of foreign tourists and in the number of people wanting to walk the moors.

But people were still coming to the village because there was still plenty to do in Haworth, and the centre had published a series of road walks for people to enjoy.

The walks range from one hour to three hours, and all start from the centre in West Lane.

People wanting to attempt them must call at the centre and pick up written details of the route and a map.

Most traders in Haworth, especially those running bed and breakfast businesses, are reporting a drop in business.

Pat Beighton, who runs Mrs Beighton's sweet shop in Main Street, said: "We are 25 per cent down on the same period last year.

"We have had to lay off two of our part time workers.

"I don't think Mr Blair's visit will make a blind bit of difference."

Emma Bohannon, manager of the Black Bull, where Branwell Bront did his drinking, said a number of bed and breakfast bookings had been cancelled.

And Mike Hutchinson, chairman of Haworth Traders and a partner in Ye Sleeping House bed and breakfast, said he had no bookings for Easter.

"It's nice that Mr Blair should spend the time and effort to help," he said.

"Hopefully people will follow his example and come to Haworth."

Bront Parsonage Museum curator Rachel Terry said they were still seeing as many Japanese tourists, but there had been a fall of about 10 per cent in visitor numbers generally.

"The message is that we are open, and that is crucial to our survival," she added.