EURO MPs investigating last year's foot-and-mouth epidemic are to visit the North-East and North Yorkshire.

About 40 members of the European Parliament, complete with interpreters and support staff, will be in the region on April 19 as part of their examination into how the crisis was managed.

They are due to visit a number of farms and speak to farmers whose livestock were culled. Their aim is "to learn from affected individuals who do not normally have the chance to be heard".

They were urged to visit the region by North-East MEP Martin Callanan, who is on the committee.

The farming community last night welcomed the news of the visit, which has been angered by the UK Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry into the outbreak.

Teesdale farmer Richard Betton, vice-chairman of the NFU's hill farming committee, said: "I would welcome any visit to the region by a committee that is part of an independent inquiry.

"It's only a shame that our own Government couldn't hold a public inquiry itself."

The MEPs, who will also visit Cumbria and Scotland, are members of the European Parliament's "temporary committee" on foot-and-mouth disease and are spending a year drawing up recommendations for EU governments on how such outbreaks can be prevented, or tackled more effectively in future.

One of its main lines of inquiry will be whether current EU policy banning vaccination to cope with outbreaks of disease in animals should be continued or reversed.

The ban exists because vaccination means the loss of "disease-free" status for EU meat exports.

Yesterday, former Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, who presided over the foot-and-mouth crisis between February and September last year, gave evidence to the committee in Brussels.

Mr Brown said that vaccination had been kept open as an option from the start, and he believed there had been a strong case for a limited vaccination policy in disease hot-spots.

"However, there were serious potential downsides to a vaccination strategy," he said. "Some elements of the food industry were not prepared to put vaccinated produce into the food chain.

"Cadbury's issued a statement saying they would not take the milk from vaccinates. The majority of farmers and their leadership opposed vaccination because of uncertainties about the market response and because of the strict trade controls that would have to apply following vaccination."