BOLTON Anglers Association has closed eight of its lodges because of the foot and mouth crisis.

The club says that although fish are not affected by the virus, the closures are a necessary precaution as many of the lodges are close to farmland.

The move coincides with advice from the Environment Agency asking people considering going fishing to avoid farmland and livestock areas to help minimise the risk of transferring the disease.

The Agency's North-west regional water manager, Dafydd Evans, said: "Fish do not carry foot and mouth disease. Rather it is the risk of contamination via boots, equipment, clothing and vehicles that needs to be guarded against. For the same reason, we are discouraging fishery owners from stock management activities as a precaution."

The British Horse Society (BHS) is urging horse owners not to use bridleways, common land, or moorland, and to stay away from roads in rural areas. Horses can transmit the virus via their hooves.

But MAFF reassures worried owners that horses would not be slaughtered along with livestock on a farm infected with foot and mouth. This has been confirmed by animal health officers at the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the horses would probably have to be confined for several months.

The lodges closed by Bolton Anglers Club are: Hulton Park Lake, Forward, Bunk, Farmlodge, Dingle, Gleaves, Wales and Shorelodge.

For the latest news on the epidemic see our National News file on the News left link