Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE) today called on Tony Blair to explain why warnings were ignored about the risks of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

The call came after research showed the Government failed to heed information from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare.

Since May 1997, FoE claims the Government was warned:

- In 1998, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said Europe was especially vulnerable to livestock diseases because of the large-scale animal movements within the EU and overcrowding of animals on farms.

- In 1999, the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare stated the EU was at "extraordinary high" risk of foot-and-mouth disease because of the presence of the disease in countries on the edge of the EU.

- In 1999, the Italian Public Health Ministry said that "changes in the livestock industry, such as the rapid transportation of animals over long distances and the concentration of livestock in large intensive units, are conducive to outbreaks of exotic diseases which can occur unexpectedly".

Dioxins

Charles Secrett, FoE's executive director said: "Once foot-and-mouth is under control, we must have a fundamental review of how we farm in this country."

Meanwhile, Department of Environment (DETR) officials confirmed, yesterday, that fires lit during the first six weeks of the foot-and-mouth crisis had released some 63g of cancer-causing dioxins into the atmosphere - some 18 per cent of the UK's average annual emissions.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon insisted that no risks were being taken with public health, saying that studies showed the dioxin releases were "the equivalent of two Bonfire Nights".

Friends of the Earth yesterday called for an end to the use of pyres.

Spokesman Mike Childs said: "Farmers are faced with a dreadful double whammy.

"Not only might they lose their livestock because of foot-and-mouth, but they may also find their farms heavily contaminated and unusable because of the toxic effects of dioxins."