FARMER Jason Brown has spent 10 years building up his herd of 20 prize show cows but it will take MAFF only one day to wipe them out.

His award-winning Holstein Friesians are kept at Mr Chilman's farm and, like his cattle, they have been sentenced to death despite being deemed fit and healthy by a Ministry vet.

However, Mr Brown heard from MAFF for the first time on Saturday when they phoned to tell him they were sending a valuer to Mr Chilman's farm the next day.

Yesterday, he joined more than 30 villagers to help save the herd from slaughter.

"MAFF made no attempt to contact me at all until Saturday, and then it was only to tell me that the valuer would be out the following morning," he said. "It's a disgrace.

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"It just seems like an uphill battle. You try and call MAFF and your calls are never returned," he added.

Mr Brown also has 150 head of cattle at his own farm, seven miles away in Pirton, which is near an infected site.

He said MAFF had contacted him about their slaughter two weeks ago, but an administrative error meant they were not destroyed.

"I had four different phone calls saying my cattle would be destroyed. We waited every day for them to come but, in the end, they said they wouldn't be taking them because there'd been a mix-up with paperwork.

"It was a big relief, but the stress I went through was unbelievable.

"There's no way I'm going to let them take my Holstein Friesians," he added.

A MAFF spokesperson said, yesterday, that the Ministry was looking into Mr Brown's case.