Scots farm gets all-clear

The exclusion zone extended to 8km around the farm

The Scottish Executive has said that an Aberdeenshire farm suspected of having foot-and-mouth disease has been given the all-clear.

The news comes as a relief to farmers in the area who were facing the prospect of having their herds slaughtered.

However, fears are growing about the true extent of the disease as the number of confirmed outbreaks in England continues to rise.

There are now 17 confirmed cases south of the border, including Wolsingham, County Durham; Withnell, Lancashire and Wootton, Northamptonshire.

The Westminster Government has also announced that public footpaths near farms will be off-limits in measures designed to control the spread of the disease.

Infected animal carcasses have been destroyed

Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie has warned he may be forced to follow suit if the public does not pay heed to warnings about contact with livestock.

So far no cases of the disease have been confirmed in Scotland, although a number of farms have been under investigation.

It has been an anxious three-day wait for farmers at Banks Farm near Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, since an exclusion zone was thrown around the farm after lesions were found on some of the animals' feet.

Initial tests proved negative and farmers were cautiously optimistic that the results of final tests would be negative.

The State Veterinary Service has been checking the Fyvie farm since Friday after some pigs were thought to be displaying symptoms of foot-and-mouth.

The exclusion zone around the farm extended to eight kilometres.

Livelihood threat

Meanwhile, large parts of Scotland's rural community are living under virtual siege conditions amid the spectre of the disease.

Deer stalking and hunting has been brought to a standstill as part of the UK-wide ban on livestock movements, and the National Farmers Union in Scotland has cancelled all meetings for the next seven days.

Highland Council has introduced a ban on local authority vehicles like refuse lorries and mobile libraries visiting farms in a bid to tackle any risk of spreading the virus.

If visits are essential, staff are being told to observe disinfections routines and any restrictions imposed by individual farms.

The council's ranger service has suspended all guided walks and other led activities until further notice, while the West Highland and Speyside ways have been closed.

Ross Finnie: Countryside ban under consideration

Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie has said he is considering putting a ban on walkers entering the countryside in an attempt to block the spread of the disease.

Despite warnings to the contrary, walkers and horse riders have been found on land where sheep were grazing.

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, he said: "We were greatly encouraged at the weekend that the public generally understood the seriousness and tremendously contagious nature of foot-and-mouth disease.

"But unfortunately we have had a few reports of people who do not seem to be taking it seriously.

"It is vitally important that everyone - particularly the industry - is kept fully appraised of the evolving situation on foot and mouth."

Farmers leaders estimate they have already lost trade worth £2m a week from the export ban that preceded the movement order.

'Difficult years'

Farm incomes were plummeting even before the foot-and-mouth scare, and average farm incomes were a meagre £3,800 last year in Scotland - 60% of which came to the livestock sector, said the Royal Bank of Scotland agriculture expert Jimmy McLean.

He estimated Scottish farmers have bank borrowings or overdrafts collectively worth about £1.2bn.

"We have had four or five difficult years in the farming sector, and the last thing we wanted or needed was something like this," he said.

"It is going to be extremely difficult for the farming sector to deal with this.

"We are looking at each individual case as they come to us, and we make our decision on an individual basis."