THE number of confirmed foot and mouth outbreaks more than doubled over the weekend from two to five, all close to the original cases in Hawes, Wensleydale, and Queensbury near Bradford.

Farmers in Wensleydale feel that a cull of healthy stock might start today, with up to 1,000 sheep being slaughtered, many of them pregnant ewes.

This would be part of the Government's new policy of creating safe cordons around affected areas by killing sheep before they contract the disease - a policy which has been greeted with howls of protest in some rural areas.

Farmers in Northumbria have threatened a "revolt in the countryside" and dozens of farmers in Cumbria are threatening to block gates and other entrances to prevent vets going onto their land to kill healthy animals.

To explain the reasoning behind the policy, government chief vet Jim Scudamore is in Cumbria today meeting farmers - and is expected to receive a hostile reception.

The "healthy slaughter" policy has even split the NFU. Although President Ben Gill, who farms at Easingwold, near York, has accepted this drastic new measure "with great reluctance," the union's Cumbria officials are backing their local members who plan to resist the move.

Other developments include:

• Agriculture Secretary Nick Brown is in Brussels today meeting with other EU farm ministers to discuss the crisis. Fortunately, a single outbreak in France remains the only confirmed case on the continent.

• Over the weekend, MAFF came under severe attack in all branches of the media, being accused of taking too little action too late. Opposition politicians accused the ministry of incompetence and several newspapers suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair was more interested in holding a general election in May than in tackling the crisis.

• Churches through the countryside reported large increases in attendances on Sunday and Londoners held a special service at St Martins-in-the-Field to pray for the countryside. Farmers are being urged to talk to their vicars or get in contact with various church-backed charities for support in the crisis.

• The Countryside Agency, concerned at the huge drop of urban visitors to the countryside, which is threatening hundreds of rural businesses with bankruptcy, has set up a website suggesting areas they can safely visit. These county-by-county maps are available on www.countryside.gov.uk.

• However, the NFU is urging that visitors should still take stringent precautions against spreading the disease. It has issued a list of various country organisations visitors should contact whilst planning their trip.

They are:

The Caravan Club on 01342 326944

The Camping and Caravanning Club on 02476 694995

British Cycling Federation on 0161 230 2301

The Ramblers Association on 020 7339 8500

The British Horse Society on 08701 202 244

The British Canoe Union on 0115 9821100

The Farm Holiday Bureau on 024 7669 6909

Association of National Parks Authorities on 01647 440245

The National Trust - property enquiries on 0870 458 4000