DEFRA - that's the Department of Environment, Fisheries as and Rural Affairs for your information - seems to be giving U-turns a bad name at present.

First, they appear to be taking a new line on compensation of house-owners adjacent to the Throckmorton Airfield burial pit, now home to hundreds of thousands of rotting animal carcases.

As yesterday's Evening News revealed, after months of stone-walling and denial of any liability, all of a sudden they have decided to buy some properties belonging to people nearby.

These are people who have, to use their words, a "pressing need" to sell and who cannot because of the blighting of the area.

Now, predictably, other householders, equally affected by the foot-and-mouth legacy, are asking: "Why them and not us?"

Our story on page three today exemplifies this perfectly.

The second U-turn of the week is revealed in some national papers today.

It is reported that secret DEFRA documents recommend the vaccination of the nation's farm animal population against foot-and-mouth disease. The mass slaughter strategy will be scrapped.

This particular U-turn will infuriate many farmers who stood out against the vaccination option during last year's crisis.

They feared that a vaccination policy would jeopardise their valuable export trade.

So what's changed!

Maybe, when the good old "Ag and Fish" departmental name came up for review, the Ministers should have considered the acronym SHAMBLES!