Devon farm confirmed as 1,000th foot-and-mouth case

A family-run farm owned by a 74-year-old man who was born on the property has become the 1,000th case of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

Higher Thornham Farm, at Romansleigh, near South Moulton, Devon, is run by Stanley and Ruth Chudley and their two daughters. It has 48 cattle and 330 sheep, all of which will now be slaughtered.

It is listed by Britain's Ministry of Agriculture as case number 999 in Great Britain.

Added to the single case in Northern Ireland, the Chudley's farm becomes the 1,000th for the UK as a whole.

Mr Chudley's parents owned the 160-acre property before him. The grim news was confirmed to the couple this afternoon as vets made preparations for the cull.

Mrs Chudley, 64, said: "We hoped against hope this wouldn't happen but we always feared it might. You keep your fingers crossed right up until the last moment that you will somehow escape the worst of it but now the worst is to come.

"They will have to slaughter them all. We'll just have to try to bear up, but it won't be easy. The sorry part of it is that the cows don't have it - they've all tested clear. It's the lambs unfortunately. But they've all got to go."

She said she had no idea how the family business would recover from the loss, adding: "We'll just have to wait and see but we'll get through this. We're very close.

"Being the 1,000th case isn't a very nice distinction."