A father and son have been jailed for three months over the illegal running of a squalid slaughterhouse.

Harold Gray, 62, and his son Michael, 31, appeared before Harrogate magistrates yesterday.

A third man, Sumaullah Patel, 41, who acted as a halal slaughterman, was jailed for two months for carrying out botched sheep killings on the farm at Langbar, near Ilkley, North Yorkshire.

District Judge Roy Anderson said the Grays had brought farming into disrepute, and Patel, of Sunningdale Road, Bolton, had carried out ''incompetent and botched'' killings.

The court heard the Grays allowed sheep to be killed in squalid conditions at their Upper Austby farm.

The illegal slaughterhouse had an open sewer with human faeces present. A chopping board was covered in bird droppings and the meat had maggots in it and meat hooks were rusty.

After the hearing Trading Standards chiefs said the filthy conditions found inside the slaughterhouse were the worst they had ever witnessed. Sentencing the three men, Mr Anderson said: "I am satisfied that you caused pain and distress to these animals which in a controlled and regulated environment would not have occurred.''

Mr Anderson was told Harold Gray had previous convictions for cruelty to farm livestock and failing to comply with post-BSE control measures and over the years had been fined £12,000.

Patel admitted three offences of causing avoidable suffering to sheep during slaughter. The Grays each admitted aiding and abetting Patel, and three offences of causing unnecessary suffering.

The Grays also admitted 11 offences of contravening the post BSE regulations, failing to dispose properly of high risk material and breaching rules on cattle movements, passports and records.

The Grays denied running an unlicensed slaughterhouse on the farm, but were convicted.

Harold Gray was banned from keeping cattle and sheep for 10 years while his son was banned for five years.