By JANE FIELD and JOEL SAWYER

ANIMAL testing, in a bid to lift foot-and-mouth restrictions, is currently taking place in Warrington and throughout Cheshire with the hope of declaring it an all-clear zone.

But claims in a local daily newspaper that the county could be just days away from being announced as officially free of the disease are said by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) to be "jumping the gun".

There have been at least three farms in Warrington subject to a 'high risk' Form D notice by MAFF after being linked with infected cattle, but despite a confirmed case just three miles away at Deasley Farm in Little Leigh, Warrington still has no confirmed cases.

Those farms subject to a Form D notice including ones in Lymm and Penketh are undergoing tests along with others in the south of the town.

The 'infected area status' put on the south of the town by MAFF remains in place but Warrington Borough Council yesterday announced the re-opening of 60 per cent of its footpaths.

A MAFF spokesman said: "It is a bit early to say that Cheshire could be all clear. This is going to be a long process. It takes weeks, not days."

BOSSES at Risley landfill are reassuring people that it is not yet taking animals which have been killed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Biffa, the company which operates Risley landfill, has been asked by the Government's Intervention Board to provide safe disposal of uninfected sheep and pigs slaughtered under the Livestock Welfare Scheme.

Animals under the scheme have suffered from overcrowding or lack of food as a result of the transport restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Risley is on a list of 111 sites around the country considered by MAFF to be suitable for the disposal of carcasses under the scheme.

But bosses this week said they were unsure about agreeing to take the beasts.

Landfill director Robin Tweedale said: "As yet we have not been directed to take any such animals at Risley."