The first cattle auction since the foot and mouth outbreak took hold has begun.

Up to 500 animals were set to be sold on Monday at Orkney Auction Mart, Kirkwall. The auction is taking place because it is one of the few parts of the country to remain disease-free. As a precaution tough rules on disinfection and contact have been kept in place.

Auction mart manager John Copland, said: "We had been pushing to resume the mart here for a while, but we are delighted that we have finally got the go-ahead. The last time there was a market here was February 19. It is no surprise that we are the first part of the UK to resume markets because nothing comes in here."

Scotland is the first part of the country where movement restrictions, put in place when the disease first took hold, have been eased.

Announcing the resumption of sales, Scottish rural development minister Ross Finnie MSP said it was another step towards resuming normal service for farmers.

Farmers leader Ben Gill welcomed the sale but warned his members south of the border were still suffering.

"There are still many forgotten farmers currently restricted on their ability to sell livestock despite the fact that their herds are disease-free," he said.

Jim Walker, president of NFU in Scotland, said: "It's great to see a cattle sale take place again after so long. Tight bio-security arrangements have made it possible and it's a welcome step forward in our fight to get over the effects of the disease. But we still have a long way to go to get back to some form of normality. Crucially, we still need to see our export markets re-opened."