MAFF confirmed a fourth case of foot and mouth disease in Wensleydale. Nationally, the number of confirmed cases as of Wednesday morning was nearing 400. This followed confirmation of 45 new cases on Tuesday, the highest number for one day since the start of the outbreak. A farmer near Bradford, Alfred Pickles of Clayton, suffered a heart attack and died only hours after MAFF gave his cattle the all-clear.

THERE have been calls for the Government to abandon plans for the mass slaughter of healthy animals which may have come into contact with foot and mouth disease. The RSPCA said there should be no slaughter of animals which have no proven link to the disease.

Farmers For Action (FFA) said it was launching a legal battle in a bid to stop the cull. "This is all-out war," said spokesman David Handley, who was also a leader of last year's fuel protests.

Andrew Spence, regional co-ordinator for Farmers For Action in north-east England, predicted a rural revolt against the cull, saying: "We are not going to just sit back and see hundreds of thousands of healthy animals slaughtered." Mr Spence branded NFU leader Ben Gill, who has backed the mass slaughter, as a "yes-man".

ARMY Logistic Support teams were this week deployed at MAFF's request in Cumbria and Devon. Up to 80 members of the 1st Battalion Prince of Wales Own Regiment were deployed to Carlisle. Up to 130 members of the Royal Military Police were earmarked for Exeter.

The soldiers will supplement MAFF regional staff in the co-ordination of contractor teams already involved in disposing of carcasses. This is to speed up the disposal process and release vets to tackle the spread of the disease.

THE Government was this week looking to recruit more vets from abroad, discussing whether vets could move from one infected farm to another in a shorter quarantine period than the present five days, hoping to licence five more rendering plants in the north-west and north Devon to deal with carcasses and agree a streamlined valuation regime for animals to be slaughtered with the National Farmers' Union.

MINISTRY of Agriculture vets have met with a dozen farmers in the Dales to discuss the possible slaughter of apparently healthy animals in the area around four confirmed foot and mouth cases. "A targeted cull is the solution we expect to be announced today rather than a slaughter of all animals within a defined killing zone," said a spokesman.

AT UK request, the European Commission has agreed to a change in Arable Area Payment Scheme (AAPS) rules to allow set-aside land to be used for grazing, without loss of aid payment, where movement restrictions resulting from the foot and mouth disease outbreak necessitate this. This will initially apply from March 1 to 30 April 30.

Minister Nick Brown said: "The Commission has recognised that farmers under movement restrictions may be facing problems feeding animals and I am grateful for their help in agreeing this measure. Farmers needing to graze their animals on set-aside land should write to their Regional Service Centre for permission. Permission will be granted on condition that no payment in cash or kind has been made to any party."

THE Kirkbymoorside Young Farmers Club AGM planned for Wednesday, March 28, has now been cancelled due to the foot and mouth epidemic. Chairman John Simpson also reports all next month's weekly meetings of stock judging have been cancelled.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, March 22, 2001