HUNDREDS of returning officers in rural constituencies were today preparing for one of the biggest challenges they have ever faced: getting out postal votes for thousands of farmers and their families stranded on foot and mouth infected farms.

The decision to call an election on June 7 has been met with quiet fury in many rural areas by country folk who believe a "normal" general election is impossible until the epidemic has been overcome.

Canvassing by politicians will be nigh on impossible in some areas and many farmers will be unable to attend political rallies where the future of the countryside will be one of the key issues.

In the meantime, the move to scrap the Ministry of Agriculture saw a major development when one of its own senior politicians, the fisheries and countryside minister Elliot Morley, said: "I have long thought there was an argument for MAFF becoming more of a Ministry for Rural Affairs."

This was an issue we raised on these pages almost a month ago. See "An Easter reflection."