Government minister Alan Johnson talks to Dutch visitor Mirjam de Haar, outside the Bront Parsonage, in Haworth

A Government minister visited Haworth to highlight tourist attractions in the area that are not affected by foot and mouth disease restrictions.

As the Easter holidays approach, Trade and Industry Minister Alan Johnson attended a special preview of an exhibition at the Bront Parsonage Museum.

He urged people not to forgo the delights of Haworth and other local tourist attractions, and admitted that following a Government warning in the first stages of the outbreak, people were now being too cautious.

He said: "It was necessary. The trouble with this outbreak is that it's so virulent, much more than it was in 1967.

"These measures were intended to control it as quickly as possible but I think the impression people got was not to move anywhere.

"That's something we are trying to redress, both for international visitors and people who just want to go away for a weekend break.

"The countryside is not closed provided people stay away from restricted areas."

He added that the Prime Minister, Government officials and embassies across the world were trying to dispel the notion that the British countryside was closed for business.

However, Bront Country Partnership co-ordinator Carolyn Spencer said that earlier in the day a group of German visitors cited a warning from their own Government as the reason for cancelling their May trip.

She said: "We've not been doing too badly but we need to get the message out that we are still open.

"Business has been fairly steady and we hope it will pick up over Easter."

She hopes that the new exhibition at the Parsonage, launched last weekend, will attract many more visitors.

Scribblemania -- The Early Works of the Bronts is a display of the Bront family's childhood works and was set up with the help of Keighley College students. The original miniature books of the Bronts' first works are exhibited with information about the magical worlds they created as settings for their stories.

During his visit on Friday, the minister said: "I haven't been here before but was very much looking forward to the experience of Scribblemania.

"I would love to come back and bring the family."

He then visited Keighley and Worth Valley Railway station at Haworth to see one of the steam trains being polished up and prepared for one of its regular weekend runs.