THERE were three news cases of foot and mouth confirmed over the weekend, one at Consett, Co. Durham, outside the "blue box" bio-security area around Hexham, Northumberland, and two more in the intractable hotspot of the Eden Valley, Cumbria.

These bring the national total to 1,997 - ever closer to the grim 2,000 mark which, some months ago, politicians and DEFRA officials were dismissing as "impossible."