Long standing proposals to reduce the cost of post-mortem checks in meat factories by replacing vets with technicians have been shelved by the Department of Agriculture.

THE slaughter of thousands of turkeys is under way as officials battle to stamp out Britain’s outbreak of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The British government is preparing “very seriously” for the remote possibility of a human flu pandemic as officials battle to contain the first avian outbreak in the UK.

THE farm lobby yesterday increased pressure on Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh to have international markets for Irish beef re-opened.