PART of Gwent's countryside is again closed off after the return of foot-and-mouth. Just last week, Caerphilly council announced many areas which had been closed because of the crisis would reopen in time for the Bank Holiday.

But now a 3km exclusion zone has been thrown around Lower Pant-y-Resk Farm in Abercarn, where foot-and-mouth was confirmed on Monday. It is only the second case to affect Caerphilly county. The first was at a farm in Nelson.

Yesterday police blocked roads in Abercarn and across the mountainside in Mynyddislwyn leading to the farm.

The culling of 76 cattle and 116 sheep ended yesterday and their carcasses will be taken to a rendering plant in Widnes.

Around 70 ewes have also been culled at an adjacent farm, and more animals were due to be slaughtered at three other adjacent sites and at one which is considered to have had dangerous contact with the infected farm. MAFF officials are still investigating the source of the outbreak. Caerphilly council's emergency team was due to meet today to discuss measures the authority now needs to take. All footpaths and cycleways within 3km of the infected farm are already closed, and livestock movements banned. Deputy council leader Councillor Allan Pritchard said the authority would recommend to sports clubs that they do not play, and council-owned sports grounds would probably be closed.

He said: "This is a really bad blow for us."

Last week, he said, with information from senior National Assembly vets, the council had decided to open as many footpaths and other areas as it could. "There was big sigh of relief," said Councillor Pritchard.

But he said there had been problems in Abercarn with stray sheep, which the council had been rounding up. Farming unions have also spoken of their dismay at the new case of foot-and-mouth.

A spokeswoman for NFU Cymru said: "There has been quite a gap between this case and the last one and many people were starting to get their hopes up that we were coming out of the crisis.

"As this case shows, the end of this crisis is a long way off." She said the union feared people had become complacent about the disease, thinking the worst was over and not being so careful about precautions such as using disinfectant. "The message to everyone is to keep your guard up," she said.

But the spokeswoman said the union had reservations about footpaths and other areas re-opening so soon.

"We completely appreciate how local authorities are under pressure from the tourism industry, which is hugely important," she said. "But we do have reservations that it might be too soon and might compromise precautions."

Colin Greeves, area officer with the Farmers' Union of Wales, said: "It has come as a huge disappointment and what is more worrying is the fact that it has appeared out of nowhere.

"It is a small farming enterprise and it is right on the edge of Mynyddislwyn - a thriving farming area. It is worrying because at the moment there doesn't seem to be any obvious contacts from where it could have come."