Eight new cases of foot and mouth reported

The number of foot and mouth cases has risen from 127 to 135.

British experts had predicted a further increase in cases today after a "second wave" of the disease spread through cattle.

It had been hoped that the nationwide ban on moving livestock, introduced two weeks ago, would have helped win the battle against the virus by now.

MAFF vets said that so far 82,000 animals had been culled of the 114,000 earmarked for slaughter.

There are 134 sites in Britain with the disease and one in Northern Ireland.