THE Government was last night under fire over the £37m cost of digging up ash from thousands of animals culled during the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Ash from the carcasses of animals burnt on pyres has been removed from 160 burial sites - 30 in the North-East - amid fears it could contaminate water courses.

Bulldozers were yesterday at work at Crescent Farm, near Ponteland, Northumberland, and two possible further sites for ash removal have been identified in the region.

Work began last summer to dispose of the ash by putting it into licensed landfill sites, and is due to finish at the end of next month.

Critics say the fresh disposal could have been avoided had proper contingency plans been put in place at the start of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Syd Worgan, of Tow Law Town Council, County Durham, which has protested against the mass burial site at Inkerman, said: "This is another expensive mess by Defra. It has been the same since day one, when there were no contingency plans in place and the authorities did not listen to anyone."

Hexham Conservative MP Peter Atkinson said: "This seems like more muddle tagged on the end of the whole foot-and-mouth mess. They should never had used these pyres."

Officials from the Environment Agency have advised the Department of Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of half-a-dozen sites in the North-East where there are concerns about possible contamination.

A spokesman said: "Certain types of rocks are quite porous, and leeching from pyre ash could potentially trickle down into the ground water when it rains and eventually end up in rivers and so on.

"Maff, as they then were, would have come to us and consulted on locations for the burial pits. But, having reviewed the situation, we have some concerns relating to the buried ash which is now being excavated and disposed of at licensed landfill sites."

It believed the chance of toxins from the ash ending up in drinking water supplies was minimal.

A spokesperson for Defra said work to remove ash had taken place at 16 sites in County Durham, 16 in Tyne and Wear and 14 in Northumberland, but would not specify locations.

He said: "We don't believe there is a health risk, but this is a necessary proactive measure beyond what the Environment Agency has asked.