The National Farmers' Union has said it will hold urgent discussions with the government on the details of a plan to allow farmers to move some livestock between farms this autumn.

The government has announced that movements between foot and mouth free counties will be permitted, as will those between at-risk areas. Movements within the same high-risk county will also be allowed, along with those from disease free to at-risk areas and from at-risk to high-risk areas.

There will be a ban on transporting animals from one high-risk area to another and from an at-risk to a disease free county. There will be also be no movements from at-risk or high-risk areas into infected areas. Some sheep movements will also be restricted to blood-tested flocks only.

With autumn the busiest time of the year for livestock farmers, all farm to farm movements this year will also require licenses from the local authority. Cattle and pigs in high risk counties will have to be inspected by vets before they can be moved, while sheep in any county where movement is permitted will require a veterinary inspection before transfer is allowed.

Food and Rural Affairs minister Lord Whitty said the aim of the new regulations was to avoid, as far as possible, animal welfare problems that could emerge if animals were prevented from moving.

Permitted animal movements will begin on September 17. The Department for Food and Rural Affairs also announced that it would step up efforts to halt the illegal movement of animals.

However, with the renewed outbreak in Northumberland reaching 13 cases, Lord Whitty also announced that live markets for cattle and sheep would not be restarting for the time being.

NFU deputy president Tim Bennett said farmers accepted that some restrictions were necessary to prevent the spread of the disease, but added that some farmers were "at their wits' end".

The NFU said it had been in prolonged talks with the government over the movement plans but that the latest announcement would place a considerable logistical and financial burden on farmers. The failure to resume some markets has also disappointed the NFU.

"It is clear that as these new arrangements bite hard on many parts of the country the government will need to look at other measures to enable some farmers to survive the difficult period ahead.

"We are particularly concerned about farmers in infected counties who will be put in an untenable position by this announcement. Further urgentdiscussions with government will take place this week," said Bennett.