A Surrey farm attraction at the centre of a recent outbreak of E.coli has been partially reopened after the local authority ruled that play equipment posed "no imminent risk".

Godstone Farm and Playbarn was forced to shut on 12 September after it was confirmed that a number of visitors had contracted the illness, with a total of 93 cases linked to the attraction.

However, Tandridge District Council has now allowed the farm to reopen its play facilities after being deemed safe by the Health Protection Agency (HPA). All animal farms will remain closed while the cause of the outbreak is ascertained.

A spokesperson for Godstone Farm and Playbarn said: "Information we have from the HPA at this stage suggests that the source was the animals in one or both of the main barns. The HPA are being very thorough in their search for why the outbreak was so extensive, but these things do take time."

A HPA spokesperson added: "The HPA considers any risks in those areas of the farm that are reopening to the public to have been reduced to levels comparable to those generally found in the countryside in the vicinity of farms."

Four farm attractions across the country were shut as a result of the E.coli outbreak, including the precautionary closure of Horton Park Children's Farm in Epsom, Surrey - the sister site of Godstone Farm - despite having no suspected or actual cases linked to the attraction.

White Post Farm near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and World of Country Life in Devon also closed in order to allow the HPA to investigate possible links between the attractions and confirmed cases of E.coli, but both have since reopened.