VILLAGERS and shopkeepers have reacted angrily to the closure of the car park in the centre of Burley as part of the foot-and-mouth precautions.

Parish council chairman Kevin Pratt accused New Forest council of playing "gesture politics" which would achieve nothing to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth but created problems for local people and businesses. He said: "I can understand wanting to keep people off the forest, but I don't see how closing a village centre car park is going to help."

"We feel that if anyone has driven into the forest as far as Burley any damage they are going to do will already have been done and to make them turn around and go back again is pointless."

Burley Post Master and parish councillor Roger Hutchings said: "The view of the parish council is that the district has over-reacted to the situation. Ours is a shoppers' car park like Ringwood and New Milton which have not been closed. It is a great inconvenience to the elderly and disabled in Burley.

"People are still coming in to the forest and if they can't use the car parks they just park beside the road. The best thing the council can do is let them park in Burley and walk round the village which keeps them out of the forest."

NFDC car parks chief John Bull said car parks in areas where livestock roamed freely including Burley, Taddiford Gap near Milford on Sea and Beaulieu were closed on Friday to avoid visitors to the New Forest coming into contact with animals.

He said: "We are trying to discourage movement through the forest."