A concession by the government will allow grouse shooting to take place on moors outside a three kilometre radius of infected premises.

It has already been established that game birds pose next to no risk of spreading foot-and-mouth disease

David Bradin, Countryside Alliance

It is hoped the measures by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will bring a much-needed boost to the rural communities which depend on the season.

But many shooters from abroad are believed to have cancelled because of the media images of foot-and-mouth from earlier in the year.

Disinfection measures

With at least 60% of heather moorland in England and Wales falling within foot-and-mouth infected areas, grouse shooting would have been prohibited on many prime grouse moors.

Defra says the shooting can take place outside exclusion zones provided 30 days has elapsed since the premises within the radius had their preliminary cleansing and disinfection.

A huge disinfection process has also been put in place for the season - including hunters' dogs - to guard against contamination.

The season - known as "The Glorious Twelfth" - officially started on Sunday, but shooting is prohibited on that day.

We are delighted Defra has adopted... the very stringent biosecurity measures we proposed

Country Land and Business Association

Isolated farming communities are hoping to salvage what they can from this year's event.

A spokesman for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said it would herald an injection of more than �12.5m into the struggling English rural upland economy, according to figures released by the Moorland Association.

The association has also said the season in England and Wales supports 279 full-time equivalent keepering jobs as well as an estimated 32,500 additional casual labour days during the event which ends on 10 December.

'Vital income'

Oliver Harwood, the CLA's head of rural economy, said: "Our members are anxious not to risk further spread of this dreadful epidemic, and we are therefore delighted Defra has adopted in their entirety the very stringent biosecurity measures we proposed.

"This means grouse moors will now be able to generate the income so vital for continued investment in moor management and the wider rural economy."

David Bredin, director of the Countryside Alliance's campaign for shooting, said: "It has already been established that game birds pose next to no risk of spreading foot-and-mouth disease.

"As long as people take the proper biosecurity precautions, there will be no great risk generated from grouse shooting under these restrictions."