Disease young 'suffered stress'

The inquiry hears of the outbreak's effects

Young people in areas hit by foot-and-mouth disease turned increasingly to drink and drugs, Devon's public inquiry into the outbreak has been told.

Young farmers' clubs reported stress, isolation and missed schooling as the reasons.

On the third day of the inquiry at County Hall in Exeter, a head teacher spoke of his school's "total isolation" during the outbreak.

He criticised the authorities for the lack of advice.

The Devon Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs submitted accounts from youth workers in the Holsworthy area saying that more young people were coming to them with alcohol and drug misuse problems during the outbreak.

Career options

The federation cited stress, isolation and missed schooling as examples of the impact.

Other concerns included closure of many career options in the agriculture and tourism industries as a result of the crisis, plus the loss of social activities.

Headteacher Mark Raven, of Black Torrington Primary School in North Devon, had to close the school for a week during the height of the crisis.

The epidemic caused "total isolation"

He said the outbreaks affected pupils, who were "living and breathing foot-and-mouth".

Mr Raven criticised the lack of support from the county council and the former Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) when he was faced with difficult decisions.

He said he found the lack of direction and advice from the government and the local education authority (LEA) "most disappointing".

He said: "We received no feedback whatsoever from the LEA.

"We also contacted Maff who were at best vague with advice, and the information on websites was not specific enough for our situation."

Welfare 'disaster'

The public inquiry was warned that some farmers in foot-and-mouth hit areas could face an animal welfare "disaster" this winter.

Peter Clarke of the Farm Crisis Network said that the organisation had taken an increasing number of calls from farmers who said they were running out of animal fodder.

Farmers who could not get rid of stock because of movement restrictions, lack of market demand and reduced slaughtering capacity, saw herds increase through breeding.

Mr Clarke said grass that would normally be conserved for hay or silage in the winter was being eaten.

Other farmers who had lost stock but had grass could not sell the fodder unless they had received clearance from the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mr Clarke said that a fodder bank was now being set up.

Farming future

Devon was one of the counties worst affected by the disease, with 173 cases confirmed and 390,000 animals slaughtered.

Devon County Council launched its investigation into the crisis in August. It received some 400 submissions from across the community.

A report on the hearings will be sent to one of the government's inquiries, the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming, by the end of the month.

The hearings continue until Friday.