Foot-and-mouth horror is far from dead and buried

Four years after the countryside disaster that postponed a General Election and led to the cull of six million animals nationwide, experts are still arguing.

The latest twist in the whole depressing saga came this week with the news that Defra is still investigating claims by 57 contractors employed by the Government for work they carried out during the epidemic.

Initially the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs challenged bills totalling £700m submitted by 130 contractors after the outbreak, complaining of irregularities including excessive charges for plant and labour, use of sub-standard materials and shredding of vital documents.

However, settlements have been reached with 73 contractors, with savings to Defra totalling £40m.

But the remaining bills - together worth £260m - are still under investigation, with a number of contractors facing court action and Defra hopeful of clawing back a further £17m at least, according to the report by Whitehall spending watchdog the National Audit Office.

None of this comes as any surprise to many of the local farmers who were caught up in the surreal world of men in white boiler suits suddenly descending on their farms in some sort of Orwellian nightmare.

They brought with them the endless crack of the rifle as hundreds of beasts were slaughtered and the resulting smoke and stench from the funeral pyres that smouldered for weeks.

At Phepsom Manor Farm at Himbleton, near Droitwich, Philip Smith-Maxwell has been a stern critic of how the crises was handled from the top.

"The problem is no one gave any clear instructions," he said. "There was no strong leadership. No one seemed to have any co-ordinated plan. It seemed to be make it up as you went along.

"The Ministry-appointed superviser we had down here was a kitchen fitter from London. Nice chap, but didn't look as though he'd ever been on a farm before in his life.

"The trucks they used to carry away the dead beasts came from Aberdeen. Nice and local.

"I don't know of any contractors who had their bills queried, but I can imagine that if the process goes through a few hands and is sub-contracted a few times there could be problems.

"It all goes back to not having a clear plan. A few senior figures should have their knuckles wrapped over this, starting with the Prime Minister Tony Blair. He must take the

ultimate responsibility."

Foot-and-mouth was particularly desperate time for Philip because he was the only farmer in the country to shoot his own cattle.

"I wouldn't let anyone else do it," he said.

"I have a slaughterman's licence and in one day I shot all 486 animals. You have to use a high power rifle and the sheer effort shattered me.

"One day, I was bringing in the cows to milk and the next day I shot them all dead. It was terrible. I was mentally and physically a wreck for days. I never want to go through that again."

But his foot-and-mouth nightmare came back at the end of last year, when Defra returned to his farm again after a team of environment consultants said part of his land had been rendered valueless because traces of asbestos were found.

"They exhumed everything they buried since foot-and-mouth," Philip explained.

"They removed 17 loads, at 14 tonnes a load. This was the oils, tar, aggro-chemicals and tyres which were set on fire. They smouldered for weeks, but was done in such a crude way and not buried deeply enough.

"I don't have any problems with Defra at a local level and they have honoured everything that has been asked of them.

"But, to me, it is absolutely scandalous that this sort of expense is still being incurred and tucked under the carpet."

The foot-and-mouth outbreak cost the UK a total of more than £3bn. But, last year, the European Commission rejected a Defra claim for £960m compensation for the cull, agreeing to pay only £350m, because it believed farmers had been given payouts worth two to three times the true value of their slaughtered livestock.

Defra is currently considering the introduction of a levy to ensure that industry shoulders a proportion of the cost of any future animal disease epidemic.

But the proposal has been delayed because Ministers wanted to make it part of a wider programme of changes for farming, including reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.

The National Audit Office report looks at the progress made by the Government in implementing changes recommended following the 2001 epidemic.

It applauds action taken to reduce the chance of infected food getting into animal feed, to restrict routine movements of livestock, to beef up security at ports and to improve reporting of suspect cases.

But it highlights the problems the Government experienced controlling the cost of the outbreak in 2001, and says more should be done to develop a new compensation system for culled animals and ensure industry pays part of the bill for future epidemics.

"The 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was devastating not only for many farmers, but also for the wider rural community," the report adds.

"Continued vigilance is therefore essential.

"Defra is now much better prepared than in 2001, but still has work to complete. For example, to develop a new compensation system for culled animals; to determine how the costs of controlling future livestock disease outbreaks should be borne; to link its central government contingency plans with those of local agencies; and to update information technology support for future disease outbreaks."

Until then, no one sleeps easy.