THERE were no new cases of foot and mouth disease confirmed in the UK overnight but tests continue on animals slaughtered on a farm at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, near Settle, as a precautionary measure earlier in the week.

Results of the tests are awaited with anxiety by local farmers because there has not been a confirmed case in the Settle area since May.

Meanwhile, on of the world's leading FMD experts, Prof Fred Brown, a Briton who now works for the top Government research laboratory in the USA, called for a worldwide vaccination policy to stamp out the disease permanently.

Prof. Brown, addressing a conference in Northallerton, said such vaccination would be cheap, effective, and could free the world of the disease just as human smallpox and polio have become almost unknown in recent years.