A LONGDON woman hopes to present a petition of 5,700 signatures to Tony Blair opposing the livestock cull.

Anne Mietke has worked non-stop over the last week to gather the signatures, helped by a tireless band of volunteers.

She is due to present the petition to West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer today (Friday, April 26).

She hopes to enlist Sir Michael's help in getting the petition presented direct to Prime Minister Blair in London.

"You have to go straight to the top," she said yesterday. "You have to mean business."

The petition is "against the slaughter of healthy animals and to demand the use of prepared vaccinations immediately, as advised by the Soil Association, to enable the countryside to get back to work".

She said: "We have got to be ready for the next time foot and mouth disease strikes."

Ms Meitke appealed through the Malvern Gazette and other media for help in gathering the signatures and says she was overwhelmed by the response.

"It has been absolutely fantastic. I cannot thank enough all the wonderful angels who came forward to help me."

Volunteers took sheets to their workplaces and stood in public places to gather signatures.

Ms Mietke herself canvassed bus queues in Cheltenham for signatures. "I'm sure they must have thought I was a madwoman at first," she said.

Sir Michael Spicer said: "I shall be calling for a very substantial public inquiry into the way the foot and mouth outbreak has been handled, because it seems to me it has very much been mishandled, including the decision not to use limited vaccination at an earlier stage."