Farm virus pit to be filled

Farm virus pit to be filled

Ash Moor: Sharp reminder of foot and mouth epidemic

A burial pit dug at the height of the foot and mouth outbreak, is to be restored to farmland.

The Ash Moor pit, near Meeth, was intended to take up to 900,000 carcasses, but was never used.

The government, which bought the site, considered making it a nature reserve, but decided instead to restore it to farmland.

Joe Skinner, of the campaign group Stop the Ash Moor Pit, said the group was "reasonably satisfied", but would have preferred a nature reserve.

Linings removed

He said: "There is still a possible sting in the tail.

"It still belongs to the government and if they want to dump something else there, they have still got it."

A government spokesman would not comment on its decision.

Work has been going on to remove the linings from the pit's burial barrows.

They will now be filled with earth, and trees and plants allowed to re-grow.

Work should be complete by summer, removing one of the sharpest memories of the foot and mouth epidemic.