MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK: Farmers' auction off due to ban

Britain's biggest sale of breeding lambs has been cancelled because of restrictions on animal movements.

Some 30,000 young sheep were due to be sold in the annual two-day auction in Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales. The event usually sees £2m exchange hands and is the biggest pay day in the calendar for about 500 local farmers. But since the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey, livestock cannot be traded or moved unless it is for slaughter. The BBC's Richard Wells said farmers would be left desperately short of money. Hotels, guesthouses and pubs would also suffer, he said. The movement ban - described by farmers as "heartbreaking" - was put in place across Britain when a case of the disease was discovered in cattle on land in Egham last Wednesday. It was later confirmed on a second farm. Pigs on a farm near the two infected premises have been culled as a precaution following inconclusive tests for the disease. On Saturday, the government's chief vet lifted a ban on farmers across most of England from taking livestock to slaughter, considered by farmers to be an "encouraging signal". However, a full ban on any movement remains in place in the surveillance zone around the two infected sites in Surrey. A 3km (1.8-mile) protection zone has been set up around the farmland, with a 10km (6.2-mile) surveillance zone encircling it. Hugh Broom, vice-chairman of the Surrey National Farmers' Union, said: "It's good there have been no further cases, however we have to keep working as hard as we can to combat the disease. "Biosecurity and vigilance with livestock for all animal keepers remains an absolute must." Laboratory results have established the virus found at the latest outbreak to be the same strain as the one in August. Reports suggested last month's outbreak was connected with the Pirbright laboratory site, shared by two occupants - the government's Institute for Animal Health (IAH) and Merial Animal Health. Peter Ainsworth, shadow secretary for the environment, food and rural affairs, said: "What remains an almost unbelievable stain on the government's name is the fact that they seem to have been responsible through negligence for these outbreaks at Pirbright. "As and when the dust settles there will be some very, very serious questions for the government to answer." Estimates of the cost of the latest outbreak have been put at almost £10m a day. Police and trading standards officials were continuing to monitor the area following reports that closure signs on footpaths had been torn down and people had been side-stepping disinfectant mats. A spokesman for Surrey trading standards said although no arrests had been made over the weekend, officials were looking into reports that horses had been moved illegally in and out of the protection zone.(BBC)