A FARMING couple broke down as they told how "the mess of foot and mouth" had left them devastated.

Trevor and Marina Fowler-Jones, of Water Hall Farm at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, near Thirsk, said they had been given conflicting instructions by DEFRA - which almost resulted in the death of their one remaining herd of cows.

The couple's rollercoaster ride began on Thursday of last week when they were overjoyed to hear, from DEFRA, that they had been granted a movement licence to bring their remaining herd of 25 heifers back to their farm buildings.

They had already lost 182 cows to slaughter in July.

But the following morning, they were told they did not have a proper movement licence, and that slaughtermen were on their way.

"We were devastated," said Trevor.

"We had been overjoyed to bring the animals home; it had snowed in their field that morning, and we really thought that was it for the winter. But then we were told we could move them.

"I was running round with the video camera all morning, and one of the heifers even gave birth to a calf when we got them back.

"Then this call came, and we just didn't know what to do."

The couple told their story at a farming forum held by Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh last week, which was attended by about 100 Thirsk-area farmers.

Both Trevor and Marina fought back tears as they said they were "at their wits' end".

But, as they spoke to Miss McIntosh, the couple received a mobile phone message from DEFRA, saying that the slaughter plan had been scrapped, and that the animals were safe.

As the couple left, Trevor told our reporter: "It sounds like good news, but I don't know if I can believe it, after all that's happened."

The meeting discussed the foot and mouth crisis, and the future of farming.

Miss McIntosh said the key points were the need for a full public inquiry into the Government's handling of the crisis, an end to illegal imports, and the need for crystal-clear labelling of meat.

She added: "The disease came very late to the Vale of York, and yet it was as badly handled here as it was anywhere else."

Updated: 12:45 Thursday, November 15, 2001