FMD control zones lifted
Defra has lifted the two control zones it set up on the Hampshire borders following negative tests for Foot and Mouth Disease at each of the sites


Two temporary control zones, set up on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border and the Hampshire-Sussex border, have now been lifted following negative results of laboratory tests for Foot and Mouth Disease. The 3km zones were set up around the farms on Sunday and meant that no livestock could be moved. After Monday's announcement confirming a seventh case of FMD, the results have been welcomed.
The news means that the disease has not spread beyond the borders of Surrey since the initial outbreak in August (the seventh outbreak confirmed on Monday happened within the current protection zone at Egham). Defra now says it believes the risk of FMD spreading to other parts of the UK is low. As of 3.30pm some movement restrictions placed upon livestock were removed, allowing farm-to-farm movement.
Restrictions still remain, however, in the risk area covering the counties of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Berkshire, Greater London, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. Chief Vet Debbie Reynolds spoke this afternoon to confirm that weekend markets will not go ahead within these risk areas.
For further, up-to-the-minute information, visit the Defra website.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Vertigo at Victoria Falls, a sunset surrounded by lions and swimming in the Nile: A journey from Cape Town to Cairo
Why do we travel and who inspires us to do so? Chris Wallace went in search of answers on his own epic journey the length of Africa.
By Christopher Wallace
-
A gorgeous Scottish cottage with contemporary interiors on the bonny banks of the River Tay
Carnliath on the edge of Strathtay is a delightful family home set in sensational scenery.
By James Fisher