AS Yorkshire Dales farmers face one of their grimmest weeks for five years, with foot and mouth restrictions still in place and an outbreak of deadly blue tongue disease confirmed in Suffolk, the Country Land and Business Association has issued a heartfelt plea to the public: "Don't panic."

The arrival of bluetongue has been on the cards following its movement across Europe

David Fursman President of the CLA

"What we must not let this do is in any way, to knock confidence among the public at a time when they are being asked to show solidarity to British farmers by eating British meat," said David Fursdon, president of the CLA, the rural economy experts, in response to the UK's first case of bluetongue disease hitting a Suffolk Farm.

"The arrival of bluetongue has been on the cards following its movement across Europe and the milder weather we're experiencing in Britain. We had hoped that the fall in temperature as we're moving into winter would help prevent bluetongue from reaching these shores.

"Undoubtedly, this disease outbreak is yet another worry for livestock farmers. The movement restrictions and daily monitoring by all farmers and rural businesses should help the situation, but a midge-borne virus is difficult to contain."

The new outbreak could not come at a worse time in the Dales, where farmers were already reeling from the FMD restrictions which have already closed down vital autumn sales of both sheep and cattle raised on hill farms which are due to be sold to other farmers who fatten them up over winter.

And it comes as the third blow of "triple whammy" following allegations last week that the major supermarket chains and big dairy processors had conspired to increase the price of dairy products in their stores whilst cutting the price they paid to farmers to the bone - and act which has caused hundreds of farmers to quit the land forever.

In the Dales, there was a sense of despair amongst many farmers, similar to the feeling during the massive foot and mouth outbreak in 2001/2