The farmer believed to be at the centre of last year's foot-and-mouth outbreak was today banned by a court from keeping farm animals for 15 years.

Bobby Waugh, 56, was also ordered to be electronically tagged for three months and keep an overnight curfew by District Judge David Prowse at South East Northumberland Magistrates Court.

At a previous hearing, the farmer of St Luke's Road, Pallion, Sunderland was found guilty of five charges of failing to notify the relevant authorities of foot-and-mouth disease; two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to pigs; one count of feeding his animals unprocessed waste and one charge of failing to properly dispose of animal by-products.

Mr Prowse ordered Waugh, who ran a fattening unit at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland to pay £10,000 towards the prosecution costs but he took into account the fact the former farmer's finances were in an even worse position than he anticipated.