IN ANNOUNCING the decision to slaughter pigs and sheep on farms in some parts of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire, Minister of Agriculture Nick Brown said "this is a policy of safety first".

"We are intensifying the slaughter of animals at risk in the areas of the country - thankfully still limited - where the disease has spread," he said. "And then, provided that other areas remain disease-free, we can, over the next week to ten days, considering modifying restrictions in the areas that have remained clean."

In the two kill regions, the affected farms lie within 3km of farms with confirmed cases of foot and mouth. Cattle will be monitored. Any that show signs of infection will be killed and the herds they are with.

In a passionate plea to the Government, National Farmers' Union President Ben Gill said people in the industry wanted to ensure this kind of crisis could never happen again.

He said millions of pounds in compensation was needed by farmers.

Mr Gill said: "There's an enormous amount of work to do at this time, and when the depression is so great, it is vital that we give to our members some hope."

He said farmers would receive compensation from insurance companies for slaughtered animals based on their current value.

But when the time came for restocking there would be a rush that could leave farmers out of pocket as prices rose.

He said: "I'm determined that we will come out of this stronger and in a way that ensures that this never happens again."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture said the Government was thinking hard about the demand.

He added: "It would be a recovery package. There is a lot of rumour, but nothing has been ruled out."

Talks are scheduled to take place with the European Commission this weekend, but MAFF refused to speculate on what the package might include.

In North Yorkshire, farmers reacted with horror to news of the more cases of foot and mouth in Yorkshire - four now reported in Wensleydale. There were plans yesterday to cull more than 1,000 healthy animals in the area to prevent a spread of the virus.

Derek Watson, chairman of the York county branch of the National Farmers' Union, who farms at West Knapton, said: "It's just devastating. Another outbreak in Yorkshire is terrible news.

"We must not drop our guard at all. We must keep up this fortress approach of keeping ourselves on our farms and everybody else off them.

"It looks as though this is virtually out of control and this looks as though it's the only way forward. Let's just hope it works."

Richard Tasker, auctioneer, said: "The whole farming industry is in a sombre mood. There is a lot of tension and stress because it's a very difficult time.

"There is no cash flow for farmers but they look at this as an opportunity to do a bit of business.

"We've taken every precaution and all the advice."

Downing Street has announced plans to recruit more vets, licence five more rendering plants to deal with carcasses and reduce the time vets have to be quarantined between visits to farms.

Meanwhile, Mr Brown said, the meat trade has begun operating again on a limited basis. He said the Meat and Livestock estimate was that the pig sectors was back to 78pc of normal production, beef at 68pc and lamb at 30pc.

He added: "Veterinary advice does not recommend the setting up of a system of collection centres, although the option is being kept under review."

Updated: 10:34 Thursday, March 22, 2001