THE latest measure to be announced - very belatedly - by DEFRA has been the extension of the biosecurity zone westwards as far as Penrith. Every farm machine and vehicle which enters and leaves any farm within that zone has to be cleaned and disinfected every time it moves off the farm on to any public road.

In addition to this, every farm and holding, including all the hobby farms however small, are required to maintain their own biosecurity to a very high standard and must provide disinfectant mats and footbaths at the farm entrance. These arrangements have been in place in our area for just over a week and include DEFRA-designated washing places where all kinds of vehicles can be washed down and disinfected and given the seal of approval. In addition to this, the major feed firms in the county are also maintaining their own washing facilities at their mills and depots for their own vehicles and those of customers.

All these facilities are free, and the vast majority of the people concerned are taking proper advantage of this and most farm traffic on the roads today is both clean and disinfected.

The police and DEFRA officials whose duty it is to maintain these standards, told me that they are still finding the occasional very dirty vehicle on the roads. Up to now, the drivers of such vehicles have only received a warning after they were taken to one of the cleansing centres to be washed and disinfectant. Now, we were told, this policy will be changed and prosecution could follow for persistent re-offenders.

Whilst the cleansing operations may indeed be free, the cost in time lost for farmers and hauliers is massive.

BATA, our local feed firm, runs over 50 lorries, carrying everything from animal feed to diesel fuel and liquid gas from its mill at Amotherby and its various depots around the county. The firm's drivers tell me that the cleansing operations take around three hours every day for every vehicle in the fleet. This was confirmed as the very minimum amount of extra time required by drivers from other firms in the area.

These rules apply to every vehicle which has to go on to a farm in the biosecurity area and the cost to the industry in lost time alone is colossal. Private cars and visitors, too, must comply if they visit farms in the area.

The washing and disinfectant centres are open and staffed from 5.30am until 8pm. The feeling throughout the industry is this is a job we have to do properly if we are to get foot and mouth under control and this is something which should have been done from day one.

DOZENS of farmers and drivers have been caught breaking tough bio-security rules intended to prevent the spread of foot and mouth across North Yorkshire.

During spot checks on 677 farms and 383 vehicles, a total of 46 farms and 43 vehicles were found to be breaching regulations. In some cases, footbaths were not being provided at farm entrances. In other instances, vehicles leaving farm premises were not being cleaned and disinfected properly.

The checks on farms and vehicles have been carried out by North Yorkshire trading standards officers, assisted by colleagues from as far away as Cornwall and Norfolk. "Our checks are revealing a considerable number of infringements," said Graham Venn, North Yorkshire assistant county trading standards officer.

Updated: 10:05 Thursday, August 09, 2001