OVER 2,000 overgrown footpaths in Cornwall have yet to be cleared despite efforts to make the countryside "open for business" following the foot and mouth crisis.

Ramblers and walkers all over the county have found many footpaths and public rights of way are impassable because they were not used for months during the epidemic.

Last month Cornwall county council declared all public rights of way were now open for public use, and commissioned parish councils to undertake the take of clearing the overgrown paths.

But a report seen by county councillors this week reveals that much of the work has not been done and there is a huge backlog of paths waiting to be cleared.

Just when the work will be done is not clear but it could be next year before all paths are back to normal.

Parish councillors in Mylor, near Falmouth, met with county footpaths officer Dan Thomas to show him the state of the problem in their parish.

Mr Thomas told them that it would take at least six months before the council could complete the work on footpaths around the parish, it was noted.

Hazel Perham, a parish councillor in Budock and a member of the Ramblers Association, suggested the problem could affect tourism in the county.

She said: "I don't know what the holidaymakers and tourists do if they want to walk in the county. Crops have not been cut back. For example, you can't cross from Hillhead to the distributor road in Penryn. The problem is partly the landowners who have not reinstated their paths."

County councillor Neil Hatton said farmers were still nervous about people passing through their land.

He said: "I think the parishes are very keen to get their paths open, but some farmers still feel that foot and mouth has not gone away. They think we are not out of the woods yet.

"But we are starting to see that the tourism industry overrides the farming industry."