GOVERNMENT officials last night played down reports that farmers had refused to allow Animal Health Minister Elliot Morley on to their premises.

The minister had been scheduled to visit a sheep farm as part of a tour of a biosecurity area in beleaguered North Yorkshire.

But the visit was scrapped at the last minute, amid allegations that several farmers, who were asked if they would host the minister's visit while their sheep were blood-tested for signs of foot-and-mouth, told officials to stay away.

They were said to be fearful that the visit, together with a large media interest, could lead to the virus spreading.

Mr Morley was in the county to oversee the enforcement of the toughest restrictions yet, as the battle to prevent the disease spreading to the UK's main pig production area, in the Vale of York and East Yorkshire, got under way.

A spokeswoman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insisted that farmers in the Thirsk area had not turned Mr Morley away.

She said: "There was no refusal on the farmers' part to take part on the grounds of biosecurity. It just proved impossible to find an appropriate farm."

A blood-sampling programme, covering about 40,000 sheep, has started.

The Government's new enforcement teams hit the road for the second day, to ensure that all vehicles are properly cleaned and disinfected on entering and leaving farm premises.

The Defra spokeswoman said the early stages of the regime had been successful, although another case was confirmed in the Thirsk area yesterday.

Livestock at Monk Park, Balk, are to be slaughtered. Animals at Sunny Bank Farm, in Sutton Road, Thirsk, were also being killed, on suspicion of having the disease.

Two further cases were confirmed at Barnby Sleights Farm, East Barnby, and Ewe Farm, at Ugthorpe, near Whitby, taking the total in North Yorkshire to 129.

Read more about foot-and-mouth here.