A QUESTION mark hangs over the elimination of foot and mouth from Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

MAFF has carried out "slaughter on suspicion" in both counties and is carrying out blood tests on culled animals to confirm whether they were infected.

Last weekend, 50 sheep at Welsh Newton, Herefordshire, were slaughtered on suspicion and 181 sheep at Feckenham Farm, near Redditch.

The Ministry acts if it believes there is "enough clinical evidence exists to justify slaughter".

The last confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease in Worcestershire was on April 12 and in Herefordshire April 25. The 35-day waiting period for Worcestershire was due to expire yesterday but Herefordshire will have to wait until May 30. Worcestershire will not be declared clear until the blood test results are in early next week.

Meanwhile the 59th Wyche and Colwall Horticultural Society Show has become a casualty of the restrictions. The event was scheduled for Saturday, August 11 at The Elms School in Colwall.

The school has been unable to guarantee the venue because it has livestock on the premises and Colwall Village Hall is not available. Alternative weekends could bring the group into conflict with the new Three Counties Summer Show and Malvern Horticultural Society's summer show.

Chairman Margaret White said the group hoped to mount a smaller evening event during September, possibly at its September 3 meeting.

"It is a shame but it's one of the lesser casualties of this horrible thing we are addressing at the moment," she said, "We totally understand that animals are the prime concern."