AN ANGRY North Yorkshire farmer has hit out at confusion caused by conflicting messages in Fortress North Yorkshire's foot and mouth restrictions.

Peter Hutchinson, who farms at Westwick Hall, Roecliffe, near Boroughbridge, moves his 70-strong dairy herd 15 yards along Boroughbridge Road each time he is going to milk or graze them.

He holds a licence to do this issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

But because his farm is in the bio-security zone set up to stop foot and mouth spreading to the crucial pig breeding areas of East Yorkshire, he has to disinfect the road every time the cows cross.

And on Friday, Mr Hutchinson, 60, was contacted by the Environment Agency, who told him the disinfectant was polluting the nearby River Ure - though it did not say he had to stop disinfecting.

But when the Evening Press contacted the EA, a spokesman said it was not concerned about a pollution risk.

Instead, he said the EA's only problem was it was not consulted by DEFRA when the farmer's licence was granted. Mr Hutchinson said the two agencies should "get together and sort things out".

And he said there was no way he would stop moving his cattle, as that would mean bankruptcy. "It's not very good, is it?" he said.

"The two should sort things out because I'm doing what I'm told to by one, but the other were saying they aren't happy about it and at one point looked like they would haul me across the coals.

"What I will say is I am not going to stop moving them and I won't stop disinfecting.

"That is what I've been told to do, that is how I can keep hold of my livelihood and I'm going to keep on doing it."

The EA spokesman said: "The disinfectant has been going into a ditch, but the pollution risk to the Ure is minimal and public health is not in danger.

"Our main concern is that somewhere along the line someone gave the go-ahead for this and we were not consulted about it."

A DEFRA spokeswoman said: "We understand the concerns expressed by the Environment Agency and are liaising with them on this issue."

Sheep were today being slaughtered on Birkwood Farm, Snilesworth, near Northallerton, on suspicion that they have foot and mouth disease.

But DEFRA said its random testing of thousands of sheep across a swathe of North Yorkshire was continuing to produce negative results.

Updated: 13:22 Monday, August 13, 2001