FEARS over the future of Preston's cattle market are rising after it was revealed that council leaders have recommended the lifting of a rule protecting the site.

A spokesman for Preston council said at a meeting on Monday night councillors recommended the lifting of a restrictive covenant which prevents the site being used for other business.

Since it was put in place in 1983 the covenant safeguarded the Brook Street cattle market's existence -- by stopping the site from being used for other purposes.

At the height of the foot and mouth epidemic earlier this year the market was forced to lay off staff and close for a short time due to the lack of cattle available to be sold.

The news comes as a further blow to the area's troubled farmers who could now face the prospect of going further afield to use alternative markets up and down the country.

If the restrictive covenant is lifted it is likely to affect workers at the nearby Preston Abattoir, also in Brook Street, which could feel the pinch of the cattle market's closure.

A spokesman for the abattoir said business had been suffering for a long time.

She said: "The council have been 'umm-ing and ah-ing' for the last few years over this covenant, but now obviously it will just be a case of how long before they sell it. We don't really know how this would affect us, but the abattoir has not been functioning for a long time."

The matter is now in the hands of the council's policy and resource committee, who will make a further decision in a meeting next week, on Wednesday, June 13.