Official reports into the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak are being published today – and are expected to say faulty drainage pipes at a nearby laboratory could have released the disease.

The recent foot and mouth outbreak in the UK could have been caused by faulty drainage pipes at the nearby Pirbright laboratories or spread by construction workers from the site, it was reported today.

The farmer at the centre of the latest foot and mouth scare said today he is sure his livestock do not have the disease.

THE source of the foot and mouth outbreak in England looks likely to have been the Pirbright laboratory facility adjacent to the first farm affected.