£150m payout deal for farmers

Farmers will be paid up to 90% of market value of animals

A £150m compensation scheme has been unveiled to help farmers who lose healthy animals in the bid to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease.

As the total number of UK cases rose by 45 to 480 Agriculture Minister Nick Brown announced a fixed rate of "generous tariffs" to farmers for the value of animals left stranded by the disease.

Whatever help is necessary we will give.

Tony Blair

Earlier Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease as he met farmers in Cumbria.

Mr Blair was greeted by angry protests as he visited one of the areas worst hit by the crisis.

His visit came as the Republic of Ireland reported its first case of foot-and-mouth disease in County Louth, by the border with Northern Ireland.

Around 500,000 healthy animals are currently stranded in areas of the UK infected with foot-and-mouth, with farmers unable to move them due to restrictions on livestock movement.

Tony Blair has defended his handling of the crisis

Farmers will be paid up to 90% of market value for animals, with them typically receiving £81 for a breeding ewe and £42 for a new season's lamb, Mr Brown said.

He said the scheme would run for two months and only cover livestock genuinely deemed to be at risk of suffering unless slaughtered.

"Wherever possible, we want to see animals kept for the future or go into the market for human consumption," he added.

The animals slaughtered under the scheme will not go into the human food chain.

PM's frosty reception

Mr Blair, who met farmers, the Army, union officials and tourism chiefs in Carlisle, said: "Whatever help is necessary we will give. Whatever problems in terms of rules and red tape we will remove."

He said the time for analysis had ended and it was now time for action.

"We have to make sure there's nothing that stands in the way of getting the job done, and the job is taking whatever action is necessary to bring the disease to an end as quickly as possible"

But the mood in Cumbria was far from welcoming.

John Walker, 37, who runs an art gallery in Keswick, said: "He needs to go out and meet people and spend days, here not half an hour."

He accused the prime minister of seeking a photo opportunity.

Disease hits Irish Republic

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said two samples from a flock of sheep at Proleek, near Ravensdale, in County Louth, had tested positive for the livestock virus.

The slaughter of farm animals began in the Irish Republic on Thursday evening.

A temporary ban on all Irish exports of live animals and animal products was also announced.

The UK crisis

480 confirmed cases - 45 on Thursday

272,824 animals slaughtered

162,667 awaiting slaughter

193,284 carcasses destroyed

The outbreak has been connected with Northern Ireland's only confirmed case of the disease at Meigh in south Armagh.

The Republic was the fourth European country infected by the livestock virus.

The other nations affected are the Netherlands and France.

There have also been reports of a suspected case in a herd of goats in Italy and at a pig farm in north Germany.

In the UK, the scientist forecasting the size of the foot-and-mouth outbreak for the government has predicted the number of cases will not peak until early May.

Professor Roy Anderson said the epidemic would continue possibly until August.

'Behind the game'

Earlier Conservative leader William Hague said the government should be open to suggestions "because they are not at the moment in control of the crisis".

"They have been a bit slow," he said. "I agree with the actions that they have taken, but they seem to be a bit behind the game all the time."

Meanwhile, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy said the focus should be on solving the foot-and-mouth problem, not a general election.

A government campaign to limit the damage to the rural industry and tourism by the foot-and-mouth crisis began on Thursday.