'Nightmare' threat to Dartmoor livestock

Around 40,000 livestock can be found on Dartmoor

Urgent checks are being carried out to see if foot-and-mouth disease has spread to free-ranging livestock on Dartmoor after an outbreak at a local farm.

Government vets say they believe the outbreak, at a Duchy of Cornwall farm inside the national park in Devon, is linked to previous cases.

Farmer's leaders describe the latest development as a "nightmare scenario".

Five new cases were confirmed on Monday, bringing the UK total to 74.

As the disease continued to take hold in some areas, the government has allowed unaffected farms to begin transporting their animals to slaughterhouses under close supervision.

The British Horseracing Board and Jockey Club announced on Monday that racing in unaffected areas would resume on Wednesday - the first time since a ban was introduced last week.

Europe's veterinary experts meet on Tuesday to consider authorising the use of vaccine to counter the spread of foot-and-mouth disease - although this move is currently seen as a last resort.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has angrily criticised Britain for what he regards as a failure to tackle the disease - and for the spread of mad cow disease.

Dartmoor cull threat

MAFF's Devon veterinary manager, Ben Bennett said there was a "potential link" between the outbreak at the Dunna Bridge farm in Devon - confirmed on Sunday - and other cases in the county over 20 miles away.

The farm is owned by the Prince of Wales's Duchy of Cornwall estate.

Prince Charles said: "It is an absolute nightmare ... particularly as they have spent much of their lives building up a pedigree herd."

But south west regional NFU director Anthony Gibson said airborne infection could not be ruled out given the wind direction over the past week.

If it is not linked to a previous outbreak, it could mean that up to 40,000 cattle and sheep on the moor - that had been there for generations - would have to be culled.

Dartmoor residents Chris Lodge and Heather Parr

The chairman of the Devon branch of the NFU, David Hill, suggested a ring of troops should be posted on one mile radius around Dunna Bridge farm to prevent wildlife getting in and livestock getting out.

Along with the two new outbreaks at Hatherleigh and Highampton in Devon, a third was confirmed at Bishop Auckland in Co Durham.

A new case was also confirmed at Moffat, in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland - the most northerly site so far.

On the move

Earlier on Monday, farmers in parts of Britain unaffected by foot-and-mouth disease began to move their livestock for slaughter.

The take-up of licences for farmers to transport unaffected animals to approved abattoirs has been "brisk", with 45 in Lincolnshire alone.

But four British farmers have been accused of breaching special regulations introduced to curb the spread of the disease.

British meat supplies are running low

In Northern Ireland, more sheep and cattle were slaughtered as efforts continued to restrict the foot-and-mouth outbreak which was last week confirmed on a farm in South Armagh.

More precautionary slaughtering of livestock was also scheduled for the Irish Republic in a battle to keep out the disease.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has refused to rule out government intervention on livestock prices, following speculation that farmers would fail to get a fair price for animals in the wake of the current crisis.

He said the market may take some time to get back to normal, including prices to farmers.

Compensation

Mr Brown also said he hoped to get some financial relief to farmers by April after the European Commission said Britain can bring forward payments of "agrimonetary compensation" for the ongoing strength of sterling against the euro.

But GMB union bosses accused Mr Brown of "abandoning" thousands of food industry workers, estimating that 60,000 would lose jobs unless normal trade was resumed soon.

Maff has also revealed that they are likely to get the help of 30 vets from the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, as well as 130 private UK vets, as officials battle to trace thousands of animals, including 100,000 sheep.

The French agriculture ministry has announced a 15-day ban on the export and movement of cattle, sheep and pigs, despite there being no confirmed cases of foot-and mouth in France so far.