FARMERS have accused Defra of burying its head in the sand over a looming carcase crisis on a par with the fiasco of disposing of old fridges.

There is less than two months to go before an EU imposed ban on the farm burial of fallen livestock.

"On-farm burial is the most sustainable method of recycling organic material, using the remains of one generation to enhance the soil to sustain the next," said Gloucestershire NFU spokesman June Harry.

"The ideal solution would be for the proposed ban to be scrapped," she said.

"But failing that, we believe that a nationally organised, government-funded collection service should be set up. We see no sign whatsoever of this happening, though, even as we approach the eleventh hour."

The NFU is also extremely concerned about Defra's apparent indifference to the health and hygiene implications of farmers having to leave dead stock in wheelie-bins at the roadside to await collection for incineration.

The NFU is to continue pressing Defra to organise and finance a bio-secure carcase collection and disposal service and to postpone the implementation of the on-farm burial plan until such time as it is in place.