Blair orders new foot-and-mouth curbs

Downing Street said afterwards that the Government is now looking to recruit more vets from abroad, and discussing whether vets could move from one infected farm to another in a shorter quarantine period than the present five days.

It is also hoping to license five more rendering plants in the north west and north Devon to deal with carcasses, and agree a streamlined valuation regime for animals to be slaughtered with the National Farmers Union.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said: "The meeting this morning focused almost entirely on the practical steps that can be taken to speed up the process of detection, evaluation, slaughter and disposal. There was a recognition that there were particular problems in Devon and Cumbria.

"In discussion with Jim Scudamore they talked about what further steps we could take, both to recruit more vets, particularly in Cumbria, and to free up those vets that were working there so they could be released from their duties."

At present, vets cannot move from an infected farm on to another premises for five days. In Cumbria this has already been brought down to three days "and could be brought down further", said the spokesman.

He added more than 100 vets have already been recruited from abroad "and we are looking to see whether we can recruit more".

All farmers whose animals are to be slaughtered can at present select their own valuer for compensation purposes and the spokesman said discussions would take place with the NFU as to whether one nationwide tariff could be agreed to speed up the process.

Two rendering plants have already been licensed to dispose of slaughtered animals and the Government is looking to approve a further five sites by the end of the week to cover the north west and north Devon, with another possibly coming on stream in Scotland, the spokesman went on.