AS THE situation worsened in the Settle/Lancs border area, and a new case was reported in the Wharfe Valley near Ilkley, the Conservatives were today preparing a major attack on the Government's handling of the foot and mouth crisis.

Ten new cases were reported in the so-called "Settle Rectangle" over the weekend, including farms at Cracoe, Flasby and Wigglesworth, and the Ilkley outbreak represents a new threat to the Wharfe Valley.

This has caused growing fears amongst farmers that the disease is now following river valleys - the Settle cases have followed the Ribble Valley into Lancashire. Animal movement restrictions have now been imposed east and south towards Nidderdale, Otley and Bingley

Very early in the crisis, Government scientists dismissed the theory that the virus could be water-borne. However, it is known to be carried in the air and the high winds of the last few days may have been funnelled down river valleys. But roads tend to follow rivers, too, and they could also be the cause of the spread.

Unless MAFF has come up with as yet some un-announced conclusion about the cause of the new outbreaks, the fact of the matter is that no-one really seems to know - and today, the Tories will use this apparent confusionsssss to launch a scathing attack on the handling of the crisis.

With only four days to go until polling day, and with the Conservatives trailing in the opinion polls, senior party planners will use foot and mouth as a stick with which to beat Labour.

There are, depending on which yardstick one uses, between 50 and 65 rural and semi-rural constituencies held by Labour. Tory strategists hope that the foot and mouth debacle could help them regain many of these seats and thus stave off the Labour landslide which is being widely predicted.