HEAVY equipment moved on to the former Throckmorton airfield this week to begin digging trenches for the grim task of the disposal of thousands of farm animals.

Sheep and pigs are to be buried and cattle incinerated there. The animals are from farms alongside farms where foot and mouth has been confirmed while diseased animals will continue to be burnt on site.

The trenches will be five metres deep, 10 metres wide and, said Major Julian Panton, in charge of operations for the Army.

"The length will increase as the number of carcasses increase."

Animals being buried at Throckmorton are coming from across the whole of Worcestershire and Herefordshire, transported in special lorries.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment Agency has tried to reassure nearby residents that there will be no threats to other farm livestock from the lorries or the burials, and that the water courses will not be affected but the operation has caused great concern.

The bombshell came at a hastily convened press conference called by MAFF at the Vale Golf and Country Club last Friday. It was announced that the former airfield would be used as a large-scale disposal site for culled animals.

Brinley Davies, regional director of MAFF, said: "After culling, animals will be loaded on to vehicles which have been individually approved and licensed by vets as suitable for the transport of infected carcasses.

"They will then be transported to the Throckmorton site, where they will be burnt or buried in pits under the supervision of the Army.

People living near the airfield and neighbouring parish councils are concerned about the long-term effects of the operation and furious at what they claimed was a lack of consultation over the move.

An outbreak at Mitton Farm, Bredon Road, Tewkesbury, was confirmed on Tuesday. It involves 2,500 sheep and MAFF said yesterday (Wednesday) that plans for slaughter and burning were being made. The farm and immediate surrounds have been isolated.