Farmers are hoping for brighter times in the new year after what has been described as 12 months of sheer hell by their union president Ben Gill.

Disease, weather and economy all added to the anguish with some farms barely recovering from the ravages of flooding when they were hit by the foot and mouth epidemic.

Across the country the air turned black with the pollution of animals burning on pyres and the final tally of slaughtered animals stands at more than 4,024,851 with almost 380,000 slaughtered cattle and sheep in North Yorkshire.

The number of confirmed cases stands at 2,030. Last Sunday marked the three month milestone since the last case of foot and mouth in the UK, and National Farmers' Union President Ben Gill is hopeful for the future.

He said: Only Northumberland remains classified as at risk following the lifting of restrictions for Yorkshire, Durham, and Cumbria on New Year's Day.

"The three month milestone is a tremendous morale boost to farmers up and down the country.

"It has been a long battle with the disease but it looks very much like we have won.

"We have endured a year of hell. We must hope and pray that the New Year will bring with it better times - next spring must see the birth of new life, not the horror we witnessed last year."

Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart in Otley has been closed since March because of the disease, and is only allowed to do limited work at the moment.

Director, Ben Atkinson, said: "We are hoping to open in February, but it will be on a very strict and stringent basis.

"We are all wondering what degree of business we will be able to have and I don't believe we will ever be the same.

"There is also the social side to the market because a lot of the farmers don't meet up with their friends unless they come to market."

NFU Group Secretary for the Wharfedale area, Tony Bowey, said: "All anyone can hope for is that things improve, because we surely should have reached rock bottom by now.

"Farmers are an optimistic breed and do just get their heads down and get on with it, but we are all hoping for an improvement on last year.

"We can look forward to the markets opening in February time, but when will things be back to normal? Who can say."

Farmers weren't the only ones hit by the epidemic; businesses and shopkeepers have also suffered, but Otley Town Mayor Phil Coyne is confident things will get better for Otley businesses as well as farmers.

He said: "Foot and mouth was a real problem and while the situation is changing, the restrictions obviously haven't been fully lifted.

"The good times will come again when the auction market is fully open again.

"It creates a huge knock-on effect. The farmer's wives will be back in town shopping while their husbands are at market."

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) spokesperson said that they are expecting a decision at any time on the state of play in Yorkshire, leaving many farmers going into the New Year wondering just what 2002 holds for them.