FRUSTRATED farmers are being forced to wait longer before they can move their stock after a computer glitch at DEFRA.

Livestock farmers criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after its IT system - which was designed to speed up stock movement - went into meltdown.

The Autumn Movement Licensing Scheme is intended to allow farmers to move animals without the worry they will either contract or transmit foot-and-mouth.

But Herefordshire Council's animal health staff have been forced to scrap the computer and resort to pen and paper to deal with the 200-licence backlog which built up last week.

"This is the final straw," said Mike Higgins, the council's animal health and welfare officer.

"DEFRA set up a computer system which recently came on line and which, in theory, should allow us to process applications under this scheme.

"But it's been nothing but disaster."

He said after long delays to access the system, applications were being fired back to them despite a detailed cross-referencing system.

"This meant we've had to refuse applications to move cattle for no good reason - it's no wonder farmers are angry," he added.

"The situation's bad, but it could get considerably worse unless DEFRA does something quickly. We're expecting applications will start coming in thick and fast because of the time of year."