Army prepares mass sheep grave

The slaughter of farm animals is being increased

The Army is preparing a mass grave in Cumbria for 500,000 sheep which have been slaughtered in an attempt to wipe out foot-and-mouth disease.

Army diggers are excavating a large area next to a military airfield at Long Orton, near Wigton, Cumbria.

The first of half a million sheep carcasses are expected to arrive at the site on Sunday evening.

Brigadier Alex Birtwistle said the first intention was to clear the backlog of dead sheep.

Then, carcasses of cattle and pigs would be brought in.

Subsequently, live animals would be taken to Great Orton for slaughter on site.

'Disease almost out of control'

Asked why such an operation did not begin earlier, Brig Birtwistle told the BBC: "Ten days ago farmers were not keen on a mass slaughter.

"Since then the disease has raged almost out of control so we have had to prepare for a mass slaughter."

He said: "I hope this is going to work because if it doesn't the consequences for this area are terrible."

The announcement of the mass grave, which is designed to speed up the slaughter of infected animals, comes as the government hinted at a ban on the use of pigswill, which is being blamed for causing the outbreak.

The current epidemic has been traced to a farm in Northumberland where animals were fed pigswill, but Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) says there is no proof as yet that it is to blame.

The feed, made up from the leftovers from school lunches, restaurants and cafes, is already banned in Luxembourg and Portugal but is fed to about 80,000 pigs in the UK.

Suppliers of the feed have to be licenced

The move comes as the number of confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth in the UK stands at 560.

Such a ban was suggested by agricultural experts three years ago, but was rejected by the government because it would have resulted in farmers having to buy more expensive food, according to The Observer.

Britain does ban the use of uneaten airline dinners in swill, because they may contain food sourced from abroad which could bring disease into the country.

Suppliers of the feed also have to be licenced and guarantee to heat-treat the feed to eradicate infection.

Disease totals

368,041 animals slaughtered to date

204,753 animals awaiting slaughter

246,236 carcasses destroyed

But in the wake of the present epidemic and last year's swine fever outbreak in East Anglia, these precautions are no longer considered adequate.

Peter Jinman, of the British Veterinary Association, backed a ban.

He told the BBC: "I'm sure we'll be doing a risk assessment on this but it seems a risk too far."

The government is also looking new proposals to clamp down on sheep movements once the current animal movement ban is lifted.

Sheep scams

It is set to block the rapid movement of sheep around the country by introducing a ban on sales within 21 days of purchase. Such a ban already applies to pigs and cows.

Tony Blair faced angry farmers in Devon

The proposals have the support of the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

The spread of foot-and-mouth is believed to have been hastened by the unusually large level of sheep movements taking place in the UK.

Some of the movements are thought to have been carried out as part of scams to maximise European subsidy claims.

It is thought that some farmers hire in sheep to boost livestocks artificially when eligibility for grants is checked, but the NFU says there is no evidence to substantiate such claims.

Meanwhile, churches are joining the campaign to help farmers affected by the crisis.

Church collections

Collections made during Mothering Sunday services are usually given to family groups, but this year the money will go to charities helping farmers and rural workers.

The crisis is affecting all aspects of rural life

The Archbishop of Canterbury has also urged a sympathetic policy for farmers in difficulty who rent land from the church.

Prime Minister Tony Blair met farming and tourist leaders in Devon on Saturday to defend the government's handling of the crisis and the widening of the slaughter policy.

Mr Blair's decision to meet face-to-face with his critics came after farmers' leaders accused the government of overseeing a "communications shambles" about how animals are culled.

He pledged after the meeting to stand by farmers hit by the "hellish" outbreak.

Despite the risk of the disease being spread even further animal rights campaigners are due to go ahead with a demonstration on Sunday.

Police are urging campaigners against the controversial pharmaceutical testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) to abandon plans to gather at Dunmow, Essex.

But for the second time this month the pleas for a demonstration to be postponed until the crisis is over look likely to fall on deaf ears, with the gathering still listed on the group's internet web site.