Healthy animals killed in army blunder

Ministry officials have apologised for the error

An army slaughter team called in to dispose of animals infected by foot-and-mouth has mistakenly killed more than 400 healthy sheep and cattle.

The soldiers were wrongly sent to cull animals kept on land next to an infected farm in Otterburn, near Settle, north Yorkshire, the Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) has admitted.

After killing the 280 condemned animals in an outlying field, the team went to the non-infected area and slaughtered another 468 sheep and cattle "in error" said a Maff spokesman.

The farmer tried to stop the second spate of killings, but "confusion" between the army team and Maff led to them being destroyed, despite his protests.

Foot-and-mouth facts

Total number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in the UK 1,647 - One new case on Saturday

3,052,000 animals slaughtered

63,000 animals awaiting slaughter

26,000 carcasses awaiting disposal

A Maff spokeswoman said: "It was a genuine error on Maff's part, there was confusion between the army and the Maff team.

"At this stage Maff can only say that it regrets this action and apologise to the farmer for any distress caused by a genuine mistake."

The mistake emerged as Agriculture Minister Nick Brown claimed eradication of the disease was in the "home straight".

Maff said the farmer will receive full compensation for the slaughtered animals.

The official number of foot-and-mouth cases now stands at 1,641, although some reports suggest the true number of infected farms could almost be double this figure.