New foot and mouth fear

Britain's farming industry was rocked today by a new suspected case of foot and mouth disease - a day after the EU gave the all-clear following July's outbreak.The discovery of the suspected outbreak, 30 miles from the seat of the original outbreak in Pirbright, Surrey, is a fresh blow to the country's beleaguered agriculture industry. A three-kilometre temporary control zone has been set up.

The zone is in the Egham area of Surrey, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

It is understood a cull of animals is already under way at the site. Prime Minister Gordon Brown was expected to chair a meeting of crisis committee Cobra later today.

Farmers from across Shropshire said they were "shocked and bewildered" by the latest development and laid the blame at the feet of the Government-run Institute for Animal Health which was responsible for the virus spreading in the first place.

A spokesman for the NFU West Midlands, based in Telford, said: "If this is the case that it is a foot and mouth outbreak then it would be hugely disappointing."

An official report into the summer outbreak blamed failures at the Government laboratory for the spread of the disease. Separate inquiries pointed to a series of bio-security breaches at the site in Surrey shared by the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright and the Merial animal vaccine production company, four miles from where the disease was found.

The Health and Safety Executive said it was "pretty clear" the virus escaped from the Pirbright laboratories, but said it was not possible to pinpoint whether the exact source was the Government institute or Merial.

Failures included a leaking pipe, a faulty manhole cover which allowed flood water to escape, and inadequate monitoring of both people and vehicles.

In addition, building work and the movement of soil from the area of the damaged pipes were not being adequately controlled, and vehicles were able to move off site towards nearby farming land where the disease infected herds of cattle.

The first outbreak this year was confirmed at a farm in Surrey on August 3 and a 10km "surveillance zone" was thrown up.

By Rural Affairs Editor Nathan Rous