The parents of North Yorkshire's only known human victim of mad cow disease have finally received £25,000 in compensation - as scientists warned many more could die.

Research has revealed that an epidemic of variant CJD could evolve over decades, with some victims needing a much longer incubation period to develop the disease than those affected so far.

Betty and Barry Hodgkinson, whose son Adrian died just over four years ago, say the interim payment from the Government has come as a "very hollow victory".

The cheque's arrival reinforced the Harrogate couple's feelings of loss and brought back a flood of emotion. "It was like being run over by a ten-ton truck," said Barry.

"I was very upset and emotionally drained, and very weepy. It brought it all back. We put it in the cupboard and didn't touch it for five days.

"I started to think what we could have been doing together. It's that which hurts. Adrian still isn't here. He will never be here again

"We have done what we were going to do. Now what? The cheque's coming signified the end. Normally, somebody dies and there's a funeral and in time you start to come to terms with it.

"We have had the fight for the BSE inquiry and then the inquiry and the publication of the report."

His wife said they would use the money to pay off some of the massive debts which they had accumulated during and after Adrian's illness.

The Government agreed to pay compensation to the families of vCJD victims last autumn after an official report revealed the mishandling of the BSE crisis by the authorities, and the consequent risks to public health.

It agreed to make an interim £25,000 payment to the family of each victim, but the Hodgkinsons say the payments were delayed while new legislation was passed to ensure recipients did not have their benefits cut.

They said negotiations were still continuing between solicitors acting for families affected by CJD and the Government over the final compensation payment.

The latest vCJD research has revealed that those patients so far seen with vCJD - which attacks the brain, causing death - may be genetically disposed to have the shortest "incubation" periods.

"We cannot rule out an epidemic that evolves over decades," said Professor John Collinge, who led the research.

Updated: 10:47 Tuesday, May 15, 2001