Pigswill to be banned in UK

Pigswill, the possible source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, is to be banned in Britain.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown told the Commons the risk to livestock outweighed the benefits of feeding swill to animals.

In a statement, he also announced proposals for a 20-day "standstill period" after the movement of sheep, goats and cattle.

If this had already been in place, he said, it would have "significantly slowed down" the spread of foot-and-mouth.

Mr Brown said there would be tougher action against illegal meat imports and promised other measures to minimise the risk of such an outbreak in the future.

He acknowledged the scale of the outbreak was "unprecedented" and the number of cases had not yet peaked.

But he insisted: "We will succeed in eradicating this disease."