CHILDREN'S schooling could suffer in rural areas because the foot and mouth outbreak, education bosses feared today.

They urged headteachers to carry out safety measures to stop the disease spreading.

Concerns were raised after a number of schools across announced they were struggling to run as normal as the crisis deepened.

One school has had to introduce a footbath for all pupils and visitors to ensure the virus does not spread, and some farming parents are keeping their children off school.

Slaidburn Primary School, near Clitheroe, has locked its yard so no vehicles can enter the grounds and all of the 37 pupils and staff and any visitors have to walk through a footbath of disinfectant.

Headteacher Barbara Milne-Redhead said: "We are taking precautions to make sure that the infection can't come into the school and get taken back on to the farms where the children live. You have to be sensible and take precautions."

At Belthorn Primary School, Blackburn, about 20 of the 160 pupils live on farms.

Headteacher Mike Rothwell said: "Quite a number of the pupils living on farms have not come into school because their parents are concerned about cross-contamination. We did seek advice from the education authority but they said they were waiting from a directive from MAFF before instructing schools on what action to take.

"If the Government declares a state of emergency than some of the rural schools will have to close."

Roughlee Primary School, in Pendleside, was unaffected because most of its pupils come from the Nelson and Colne areas.

Irene Wensley, headteacher of Green Haworth, near Accrington, said: "We have about half a dozen pupils live on farms, and some of the people who work in the school live on farms."

She said the 83-pupils school was monitoring the situation but not taking any action yet.

Trawden Primary School has 165 pupils on its register with about 30 coming from local farms.

Head teacher Frank Royle said: "I think the farms are taking precautions and we have not had a problem with children attending school.

"It is strangely quiet around here with people not walking their dogs and no one walking round Wycoller."

At Belmont Primary School, which has 78 pupils, school secretary Edna Aspden said they had been telling the children to keep away from the farm areas. The school has three children from a local farm but they had not been at school because of the weather.

Hazel Harding, Lancashire education chairman, said: "We are not professionals in animal health and our advice to schools would be to always comply with whatever instructions they are given from professionals such as the police.

"We would hope there would be means of ensuring children don't miss too much education but when it is something as serious as this you have to look at stopping the disease spreading before it gets out of control."