Pig farmer faces prosecution

Burnside farm: Centre of investigations

Northumberland County Council has confirmed it is to bring six charges against the farmer at the centre of investigations into the source of the foot and mouth epidemic.

The Ministry of Agriculture had said that Bobby Waugh's pig farm in Heddon on the Wall was the probable source of the outbreak which has spread across the UK.

Mr Waugh denies the charges and has vowed to clear his name, claiming he has been made a scapegoat.

They are just clutching at straws

Bobby Waugh

Meanwhile, six more cases of foot-and-mouth were confirmed on Saturday, bringing the total to 1,684 in the UK.

Maff have confirmed that movement restrictions have been extended in the Settle and Clitheroe areas of North Yorkshire.

The measures would apply to all journeys starting or finishing in an area expanded to the east to include land between Wharfedale and Nidderdale and to the south-east to Otley and Bingley, he added.

Among the charges against Mr Waugh are "failure to notify the existence of disease in pigs between its occurrence and discovery by Maff".

He has also been accused of "feeding unprocessed catering waste to pigs" before the outbreak at his farm in February.

'Clutching at straws'

A spokesman for the council said it had contacted Mr Waugh but could not discuss specifics because of legal proceedings.

But Mr Waugh said he would fight the allegations.

"They are just clutching at straws," he said. "I can disprove all these charges.

Bobby Waugh claims he is being made a scapegoat

"They are determined to make me responsible for the foot-and-mouth crisis."

A total of 600 pigs belonging to the 55-year-old farmer and his brother Ronnie were burnt at the farm in March as part of the attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

Risks to human health from the foot-and-mouth are to be monitored under a new government programme.

Tests for contamination to air, water supplies and food will be carried out to see whether attempts to control the disease are themselves causing public health problems.

BSE checks

The initiative follows recent reports that smoke from giant pyres of slaughtered animals may have resulted in cancer-causing dioxins ending up in local milk supplies.

There have also been fears that around 40 cows infected with BSE may have been buried at any one of 50 sites around the country.

The programme is described by the Department of Health as a precautionary measure.

Britain's premier agricultural events was cancelled on Thursday because of the epidemic.

Foot-and-mouth facts

Total cases in UK: 1,684

Six new cases on Saturday

3,174,000 animals slaughtered

38,000 animals awaiting slaughter

12,000 carcasses awaiting disposal

The Great Yorkshire Show - which costs £14m to stage and attracts more than 120,000 people - is held annually in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, near to the Settle cluster of cases which officials are battling.

It had been hoped that the foot-and-mouth outbreaks in the area were decreasing and the show could go ahead on 10-12 July, albeit without livestock.

But organisers decided to cancel the show after more cases in the cluster were confirmed on Thursday. Two of Saturday's new cases were in the Settle cluster.

NFU regional information officer Rob Simpson said it was a major blow for the rural community and for the morale of Yorkshire's farming community.

"What has happened is symptomatic of the ravages that foot-and-mouth has caused to the rural economy," he added.