Foot and mouth outbreak reaches 140

The number of foot and mouth cases in the UK has climbed to 139, with a 140th case awaiting confirmation by the Ministry of Agriculture.

New cases have been confirmed at four farms in Cumbria; three in Scotland; two in Devon; two in County Durham; and one in Anglesey, north Wales.

The Scottish Executive said a 140th outbreak was found near Gretna in Dumfries and Galloway, but this has not yet been confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The figure at the start of the day was 127.

Jim Scudamore, England's chief veterinary officer, said the scale of the outbreak had come as a shock.

He said there was a 'very rapid spread' of the disease throughout the country, which took experts by surprise.

Scudamore said the total number of animals facing slaughter was now 114,000, of which 82,000 had already been killed.

Since the start of the outbreak, 755 farms have been placed under restrictions for animal movement.

Junior agriculture minister Baroness Hayman said a scheme to send carcases away to a rendering plant owned by Prosper Demulder in Widnes, Cheshire, rather than burning them on farms, was now operational.

She said the first lorry journeys were from Cumbria and Anglesey, and others were expected from Devon. "We hope to make in-roads into what is an extremely distressing situation for farmers."

Baroness Hayman added: "We can deal with large numbers per lorry and, hopefully, we will be able to get rid of the backlog. We are not worried about capacity at the plant."