A LIMITED number of rights of way and footpaths in West Devon will be re-opened this Bank Holiday weekend, according to announcements by Devon County Council and Dartmoor National Park Authority yesterday (Wednesday).

Peter Doyle, county council spokesman, said all re-opened routes would be clearly marked with a green sign. 'The message is, if it isn't green, it isn't go,' said Mr Doyle.

The areas in and near West Devon are:

l Ungrazed common land at Ramsley Hill, South Tawton

l Burrator Arboretum — public rights of way around the reservoir remain closed

l Footpaths through North Park and South Park, near Gidleigh

l Several paths in the Teign Valley between Castle Drogo and Step Bridge

l Cann Woods, to the south of Bickleigh

Toni Furse of South West Lakes Trust said toilets and car parking at Burrator remained closed but portable toilets would be erected at the open car park near the arboretum, which is between Nosworthy Bridge and Sheepstor village.

John Weir of Dartmoor National Park Authority said these areas of moorland represented the first phase of re-opening, with further areas expected to be announced during the next bank holiday weekend.

Mr Weir said following an agreement with Roborough Commoners, Yelverton Golf Course would be re-opening to members only.

'Players will be following disinfectant procedures before and after playing,' said Mr Weir.

'There are actually no legal public rights of way across the golf course — there is only public access under normal circumstances on Roborough Common — that remains closed,' he said.

Notices are being displayed around the course on the Common.

n FEARS that the foot and mouth infection might have spread over the whole of Dartmoor have largely been allayed by MAFF this week.

Ministry vets have been testing random samples of sheep from so called 'cold spots' — areas outside the 3km exclusion zone surrounding infected premises — and have found no signs of the disease.

They are now in the process of sampling animals in the 'hot spots' — areas previously infected — to ascertain whether or not the infection has been eradicated.

When this task is complete, MAFF says, the moor will be free to open completely once again.

A spokesperson explained that sheep were being tested because they picked up the infection more readily than cattle and showed the symptoms earlier.

'The great news is all the samples to date have come back negative,' she said. 'But the bad news is that we cannot lift the restrictions wholesale because we still have to do the sampling of the hot spots to check the infection has gone.'

Sampling in the cold spots had taken four weeks, but MAFF was unable to forecast how long the remaining testing would take.

'We are trying to do it as quickly as possible because we realise how important this is to the people of Dartmoor and the surrounding areas.'