ANOTHER new case was confirmed overnight near Hellifield, bringing the total in the Settle area up to 41. Some 1,750 animals were culled.

Meanwhile, the A65 trunk road, which was closed between Skipton and Gargrave for much of Tuesday and Wednesday, has re-opened following massive culls on farms in the area.

Speaking on BBC radio today, the Government chief vet, Jim Scudamore, admitted that the Settle outbreaks, plus a new cluster reported on the Devon/Somerset border, were as caused of "considerable concern."

But he insisted that the "hit hard and hit fast" tactics being employed on infected and contiguous farms were working, with the average of new cases down to four a day nationally, as against more than 40 at the peak of the crisis.