A farmer knew his pigs had foot and mouth 12 days before the epidemic swept Britain but failed to raise the alarm, a court heard.

When inspectors raided Bobby Waugh's farm they found his animals were riddled with the disease.

Tell-tale lesions were discovered in 80 per cent of his 527 pigs but despite obvious signs he failed to inform the authorities.

A court heard how a search of his premises uncovered animals carcasses that had been left to rot in slurry and barrels full of animal pieces.

It was also alleged Waugh, whose farm was quickly identified as the likely source of the disastrous outbreak by the government, fed his pigs untreated swill.

The 56-year-old appeared before South East Northumberland magistrates at Bedlington yesterday facing 16 breaches of the animal health act.

The court heard how the epidemic was discovered at the Cheale Meats abbatoir in Essex on February 19 last year.

Experts from the then Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food embarked on an urgent mission to track down the possible source.

Their checks led them to Waugh's Burnside Farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland.

On February 22 inspectors visited the farm, having already been told by Waugh and brother Ronald that their farm was disease free.

But the court heard how inspectors found that the pigs on the smallholding were obviously suffering badly with the virus.

Prosecutor Paddy Cosgrove, QC, told the court: "Experts examined pigs individually on February 24.

"The majority of the 527 animals showed signs of foot and mouth and in due course some 80 per cent were found to be infected.

"Many had lesions and from estimates experts concluded the oldest lesions were some 12 days old.

"No report of the presence of the disease had been made by anyone at Burnside Farm and nothing had been done to alleviate the animals' suffering.

"Bobby Waugh must have know many of his pigs had foot and mouth disease."

In the days after foot and mouth was discovered at the farm Bobby Waugh ran with his brother Ronald, 60, inspectors discovered a host of horrors.

Rotten animal carcasses were found in piles of slurry, a tank of animal pieces had to be emptied onto a funeral pyre and experts also found barrels full of raw animals pieces stored on the farm.

Mr Cosgrove said that Waugh had been feeding his animals illegally with unprocessed swill and this was the evidence to prove it.

Under regulations Waugh was licensed to feed his animals with swill which had been heated to 93 degrees celsius for two hours, which he got from the nearby Heddon View Farm owned by Jimmy Brown.

But when inspectors raided the farm they found only untreated swill.

The court heard how Waugh and his terminally ill brother had been in the farming business for 40 years before the outbreak.

The pair, from Pallion, Sunderland, began farming at Heddon-on-the-Wall in 1994 and distributed their fattened produce across the country via auction marts.

It was after selling fattened pigs to the Essex abbatoir that the disease was discovered.

But when he was interviewed Waugh denied knowing that his animals had the devastating disease.

Mr Cosgrove added: "We submit that experts say there is sufficient evidence in this case that lesions that were some 12 days old were identified and were obvious visible signs of the disease.

"They could not have been missed by someone as experienced as the defendant and someone who was making daily observations as the defendant undoubtedly said he was doing.

"The evidence shows the pigs were suffering from foot and mouth disease.

"Mr Waugh was the owner of those pigs and even if you are satisfied he did not have the knowledge to diagnose he had sufficient experience to observe the signs and to take the necessary steps to seek advice and find out what was wrong with them. Those steps were never taken."

Waugh's farm was singled out by the government as the likely source of the epidemic which resulted in 3,912,700 cattle being slaughtered nationally with 376,125 of those in the North East, costing the region £200m.

But even after the trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks it is unlikely that it will be any clearer who was to blame for the crisis.

Mr Cosgrove said: "Much has been spoken about the origin of the foot and mouth epidemic suffered by the country.

"This trial will not reveal whether or not Burnside Farm was the farm concerned."

Waugh denies 16 charges of failing to notify officials of a foot and mouth outbreak, cruelty to animals, bringing unprocessed waste onto his premises, feeding unprocessed waste to pigs, failure to dispose of animal by-products and failure to record the movement of pigs.

If convicted he faces a £5,000 fine for each offence or up to a six month ban from keeping animals.

The court heard how the same charges, brought by Northumberland County Council, against Ronald Waugh were unlikely to proceed because of his medical condition.

The trial continues.