Foot and mouth alert
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ABOUT 30 Road Haulage Association livestock group members have been affected by the foot and mouth alert in a 1,000sqm area covering the Isle of Wight, other areas of Hampshire, and parts of Dorset, reports MIKE RUTHERFORD.
RHA southern area secretary Albert Simpson said it would be wise for livestock carriers throughout the country to take precautionary measures, including disinfecting vehicles, as outlined in a Ministry of Agriculture booklet on foot and mouth disease.
Operators within the infected area are not allowed to move animals in or out unless a special licence is granted. Although operators outside the affected area can carry on as normal, Mr Simpson said caution was still advisable.
The RHA's head office is ensuring that members of its livestock-carrying group receive information of the geographical limits of the foot and mouth regulations which have been published by the Ministry.
FiHA's livestock group secretary Ben McGuire, is confident that any vehicles visiting Shaftesbury market in Dorset (where some infected cattle was sold), have now been traced. Operators are also reminded that the restricted movement in the infected southern area includes horses and pigs, as well as cattle.
A livestock carrier situated outside the infected area says that the ban on movement will affect much of its work — T. A. Hulme and Son of Lower Upham, Hampshire, can now only take animals for slaughter into the area and drivers are also disinfecting footwear and other clothing when visiting farms.