UK foot-and-mouth bill reaches £4bn

A survey by the Countryside Agency has said that foot-and-mouth disease is threatening the entire fabric of rural life in the UK.

The survey, which was published on Wednesday, estimated that the overall cost to the UK economy would total around £4 billion this year.

The report comes as the total of new cases in the recent outbreak in Northumberland reached 13.

Seven Scottish farms have also been put under tight foot-and-mouth restrictions following contact with a contaminated farmer from north-east England.

If no new cases occur by Thursday, Scotland will have been free of the disease for three months enabling farmers to apply for export licences.

The report indicated that most of the losses were suffered by the tourist industry, as the number of foreign visitors to the UK dropped significantly.

The survey also highlighted that the foot-and-mouth outbreak had added to existing problems in the countryside, which has suffered the worst agricultural depression since the 1930s.

The Countryside Agency, which advises the government, is calling for urgent government action to encourage more people to visit the countryside in response the falling number of visitors. (MB)