THE villagers of Bagby were still shocked this week following a massive foot-and-mouth cull at the weekend.

Chaos was created as 40ft articulated lorries lined up all the way through the village on the narrow road.

"The congestion was unbelievable, there was no organisation whatsoever," said Bagby and Balk Parish Council clerk, Mr Gerry Horsnail.

The cull was necessary owing to a confirmed case of foot-and-mouth at Monk Park Farm, Balk, the neighbouring village. Another farm, Bagby Hall in Bagby, and a smallholding in the village, were all taken out as a precaution.

"We are not objecting to the way the cull was actually carried out; it was the complete lack of communication from Defra or help from the police," said Coun Carol Musgrove.

If the village had been informed of the cull, people could have gone out for the day had they not wanted to see or hear the process. As it was, the noise of the cull and the sight of animals piled up in fields by the roadside and lorries queuing to collect them was very upsetting, said Mr Horsnail.

He said lorries arrived in the village before noon and some were still working at 11pm at night. People could not get to their homes and spectators, including children, coming into the village added to the chaos.

After receiving several telephone calls of complaints from councillors and residents, he telephoned the Defra helpline to find out exactly what was happening but no one could give him an answer.

"I was told that Defra and the police do not work together in these cull situations. I then tried the police to ask for some supervision of traffic, but we didn't see anyone arrive.

"No-one seems to care. No consideration has been shown in what is a very sensitive situation in this area. Farmers are under severe mental stress. It was a true horror story."

Defra administrator Mr Howard Bolley did contact Mr Horsnail on Tuesday morning.

"He was very courteous but seemed to know little about the problem and could only offer the same platitudes," he added.

Coun Carol Musgrave added: "Everyone in the village is tense as there is no information as to what is happening or going to happen.

"I don't know why the village wasn't closed off for access. We even had people from the caravan site up the road coming in and out. Surely this isn't helping contain the situation."

A Defra spokesman told the D&S Times there had been a problem with congestion which was worsened by drivers "rubbernecking."

Defra did try to contact local authorities when a cull was about to take place and issued instructions to lorry drivers on which routes to take and parking procedures.

l A severed cow's tail found on a farm which lost its entire stock to foot-and-mouth was the work of a malicious prankster, a vet has said.

Mr and Mrs John Furness, of Manor Farm, Kirby Knowle, among the first victims of the outbreak in the Thirsk area, were horrified when farm worker Mr Albert Edmondson made the grisly discovery on Monday.

The tail, found in a field where part of the cull of their 2,120 animals had taken place, was not from one of their own animals.

"After speaking to the vet, it sounds like someone with access to cows' tails - possibly an abattoir or meat processing plant worker - thought it was a great joke to do this," said a Defra spokesman. "We consider it was the work of a malicious prankster."