The footpaths, at Falstone, in the Northumberland National Park, will reopen on Monday, nineteen months after the start of the outbreak.

The last confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease to affect the National Park was on 20 September 2001 and the last in Northumberland was 27 September 2001.

The remaining restrictions involve paths that pass through a farmyard on an affected site in the north Tyne valley.

The closure of paths during foot-and-mouth highlighted the very real value of walkers to many rural businesses

Ramblers' Association

The Ramblers' Association said the reopening of the paths demonstrated how important walkers were to rural economies.

A spokesman for the Ramblers' Association said: "The reopening of the three remaining footpath closures comes as a timely reminder of the importance of open and useable paths to rural economies and communities.

"Footpaths play a vital role in local economies, and are crucial for providing opportunities for healthy recreation.

Footpath network

"The closure of paths during foot-and-mouth highlighted the very real value of walkers to many rural businesses."

A recent survey of Ramblers' Association footpath workers across the country discovered that 84% considered rights of way funding to be the main factor affecting the quality of the footpath network.

The majority of footpath volunteers believed that even a small increase in rights of way budgets could have a massive impact on common problems, such as missing signposts, broken styles, barbed wire obstructions and cropped and ploughed paths.