Farmers 'will break sheep controls'

The controls are aimed at preventing infection

Farmers say they will defy strict controls on the movement of livestock if they are kept in place throughout the year.

The BBC has learned a 'standstill rule' preventing farmers moving any animals for 20 days after new livestock arrives on their land is to stay in place during the busiest sheep sales in the autumn.

A decision is expected from the government this week.

This rule is a bad one, really bad, Thatcher poll tax bad, US drink law prohibition bad

Robert Forster
National Beef Association

But a farmers' leader says the ban, imposed last year in the aftermath of the foot-and-mouth crisis, is unnecessary and will be defied.

Radio 4's Farming Today programme said the government will announce it is to keep the standstill rule in place.

Robert Forster, chief executive of the National Beef Association (NBA), an independent body representing beef farmers, told Today he believed farmers would defy the ban.

"I think they will because the depth of the damage is more than most can contemplate.

"We know this and our advice to Defra has been that this rule is a bad one, really bad, Thatcher poll tax bad, US drink law prohibition bad - it just won't be obeyed.

Autumn is the busiest time for sheep sales

"If the rule is broken on a scale that we're fear it might be, Defra vets will not get the movement controls they want and traceability may be disrupted.

"Faced with the realities of the real world this is a counterproductive measure that ultimately will have to be revised but not until it's done a lot of damage."

An independent report commissioned by the NBA has suggested a six-day curfew would be sufficient to contain disease.

A Defra spokesman told BBC News Online: "The controls are still under review.

"The NBA has done its own research but our veterinary advice is that is too low.

"Whether there is anything in the middle, I don't know."

She added negotiations with all parties were ongoing and the regime had already been relaxed several times, subject to advice from vets.