CLAIMS that chemicals could be leaching from the foot-and-mouth burial pits at Throckmorton must lead to urgent action by the authorities.

Roger Martin, an excavator driver employed to bury carcases during the crisis, claims both the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency did not ensure the burial pits were watertight.

He alleges that porous ground and the nature of rock formations at Throckmorton will allow toxic effluent to threaten nearby streams and water supplies.

DEFRA has told us that an extra protective barrier - in the form of an underground clay wall - was constructed at the site and, it says, a recent engineering review approved the site and its operation.

The Environment Agency, too, seems confident all is well. It says extensive tests have been carried out since the last carcase was buried in May 2001 to make sure nothing is leaking.

Nonetheless, DEFRA and the Environment Agency must redouble their efforts in light of Mr Martin's claims which, to the layman, appear to be persuasive.

DEFRA says it will follow up any evidence submitted to it about potential health problems. We'd urge them to do so immediately.