Campaigning Cumbrians
Page 10
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• Protesting Cumbrian hauliers have been assured that they will be the last hauliers to be taken off foot and mouth work in their county
The "Cumbrians first" policy was announced after Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) officials unwittingly sparked anger among local hauliers by revealing that six of the 10 Cumbrian tippers involved in carcass removal were among those due to be stood down. The move triggered a protest from three of the Cumbrian hauliers involved—Rockcliffe-based Ian Armstrong; TigbA Kitching, of Shap; and Cockermouthbased Lawsons.
They reminded officials of Tony Blair's visit to the county a week earlier, when the Prime Minister said the county should benefit from the clean-up operation as much as possible.
Ian Pearson, MAFF's disposals manager in Carlisle, says officials originally tried to simplify the huge task of moving slaughtered carcasses to disposal sites by opting for a "single point of contact", This was "sensible and efficient", he suggests, but some smaller contractors feit they were being "closed out of work".
He adds: "National specialists will still be needed for some large-scale operations, such as that at Great Orton, near Carlisle, but we have reviewed arrangements and are now aiming to use local contractors where practical."
David Yates, from Lawsons, said: "We were called to a meeting and told that Cumbrian hauliers will be the last ones taken off the job. We're pleased—we stuck out for what we thought was right and won."