IT will take a miracle for there not to be a resurgence of the foot-and-mouth outbreak which has devastated Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Margaret Beckett has warned.

The secretary of state under fire for describing farmers as not a happy bunch of bunnies gave the stark warning to an inquiry into the disease.

She told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee the movement of animals during the winter was likely to lead to another flare-up.

Given the fact we've had to license some movement, it'd be a miracle to get through the period without seeing a resurgence, she said.

The Minster was questioned by MPs on the Government's future strategy and whether there was any point in farmers whose animals had been slaughtered re-stocking.

Mrs Beckett said the industry had been changing for decades and it was not just foot-and-mouth which had left farmers fearing for their futures.

There is a lot of dissatisfaction, she added. I don't think anyone would say the farming community were a happy bunch of bunnies before foot-and-mouth.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff was dismayed by her remarks.

A secretary of state talking about farmers in this way is not helpful, he fumed.

The reason they've found life so difficult is because successive Governments have interfered with their lives, particularly through the monstrous Common Agricultural Policy.

Now they're paying a heavy price for the Government's failure to get hold of the foot-and-mouth outbreak quickly enough.

Mrs Beckett defended the Government's decision not to hold a public inquiry, saying it was simply fashionable" to call for one.

Three separate inquiries will now take place to focus on lessons to be learned from the outbreak, a scientific review of how it was transmitted and a policy commission on the future of farming and food.