TWO more outbreaks of foot and mouth were confirmed in the Settle area of North Craven overnight, bringing the total up to seven, as anger mounted over alleged Government "political expediency."

Many country organisations which feared that the calling of a general election would deflect the drive to control the epidemic believe their worst fears are now confirmed as MAFF investigate the source of the Settle outbreaks.

One possibility is that farm animals moved legally under licence from Kendal to Langcliffe may have brought the disease to Craven, which, until last Friday, had remained free of contamination.

Meanwhile, the Country Landowners' Association, whose members own or manage some 60 per cent of the country's farmland, issued a hard-hitting statement saying that anger was mounting about Government policies.

Dorothy Fairburn, the CLA's Yorkshire regional director, said that Government claims that the crisis was over "smacked of political expediency with the Government more interested in a general election than resolving the mounting crisis overwhelming rural areas.

"It is obviously outrageous to claim that the situation is under control and the crisis is over. It would appear that the Government, although it won't admit it, has failed to appreciate the depth and scale of the problem and has allowed political ambition to replace political responsibility."