Four dreaded words. Foot and mouth disease. When I saw the news on Friday night, I had little doubt what the response of the Shropshire Star would be, writes our News Blogger David Burrows.

Sure enough, within an hour there was a call from the news editor Jon Simcock asking me if I wouldn’t mind going in the following morning.

As soon as HE had heard the news, Jon started rallying the troops. Instead of the usual two news editors and reduced editorial staff that usually man the offices on a Saturday, the full news desk was called, along with our rural affairs correspondent (despite being out of the county) and the municipal correspondent.

Some of our younger reporters, and some who have come in from more urban areas, may not have grasped the significance immediately, but for those of us who worked through the 2001 outbreak or those of us who grew up in Shropshire (as an Oswestry lad who grew up hearing about the 1967 outbreak which started near the town, I count myself as both) were in no doubt what this meant.

Whether the disease was confined to Surrey or, God forbid, spread like it did six years ago, this was going to be a big deal to an area such as ours.

And so it was that all hands were called to the pump. And everyone responded, doing a sterling drop of conveying the worry in the countryside at this alarming news.

I just hope it’s a long time before it happens again. In fact, I hope it never happens again.