DEFRA and the RSPCA are both investigating alleged cruelty during a contiguous cull on fields between Broughton Road and the Skipton by-pass, where witnesses claim cattle were still running around after being hit by bolt guns.

Residents of a local estate overlooking the fields also claim that cattle were still alive were being hoisted onto trucks by cranes.

Nationally, however, the fight to control the disease had one of its best days for some time: only one new case, in Cumbria, was confirmed overnight.