A MASSIVE operation costing thousands of pounds is underway at a farm in Bromsgrove to excavate a deep pit where 260 animals infected with foot and mouth disease were incinerated two years ago.

At the time the disease was detected at Happy Bank Farm, Stoke Prior, in March 2001 a number of farm vehicles which could not be swiftly sterilised and cleaned were also buried along with the carcasses of 240 cattle and 20 sheep.

Now experts have discovered that oil escaping from the vehicles could pose a danger by polluting the watercourse. The work is being carried out by contractors working for Defra, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The sudden arrival of several huge earth moving machines, ten staff and ancillary equipment and temporary portable buildings had villagers wondering and led to the spread of rumours.

These were intensified when it was discovered security guards were on duty in parked cars after dark and inquisitive visitors turned away.

Thelma Roll parish council chairman said the first official notification she had was last Friday when she was informed of the route lorries going to and from the site were to take.

A spokeswoman for Government News Network, the official mouthpiece of government, said the Stoke case is not an isolated one.

"Due to the emergency nature of the disease outbreak and the need to quickly control virus spread, the opportunity to asses the potential impact on the environment was limited and in a few cases potentially polluting materials such fertiliser and old vehicles were disposed of in potentially sensitive locations," she said.

Some vehicles and other metal items were buried with the carcasses. They will be sent to an approved landfill site in West Cumbria. Those buried away from the incineration pits will be sent to a local scrap merchant.

The sudden arrival of the men and machines made big impact on the village.

The entrance to the site off Fish House Lane has been enlarged and several hundred yards of metal "roll up" road laid to the excavation site to protect the land.

The spokeswoman said people are being kept away for health and safety reasons, not because of a danger of spreading the dreaded cattle disease.

The parish council was not informed she added because there is no implication for residents.

The cost of the work to the taxpayer is not known but it is sure to intensify criticism of the government's handling of the foot and mouth crisis.

Midland region NFU chairman Michael Oakes commented it was a pity officials had not had the forethought to simply take a spanner and remove the sump oil before the vehicles were buried.

Farm owner Richard Brittain could not be contacted yesterday as we went to press