HUGE variations in farm clean-up costs should have been anticipated by the Government, according to a leading contractor.

The discovery that the average bill for cleaning farms affected by foot-and-mouth tops £100,000 in England, compared with £30,000 in Scotland, prompted ministers to order an urgent review of costs.

But one contractor, involved in clean-ups in North Yorkshire, said the cost of some operations went well beyond £100,000 due to the demands of Government health inspectors.

Tim Pallister, of Hall Farm Merchants, of Gatenby, near Northallerton, said each clean-up was carried out to the instructions of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) animal health, officers and case officers.

He said after the livestock has been culled, the buildings are mucked out and then cleaned thoroughly.

He said: "We wash the building until it is immaculate, there is not a speck of dirt. If it is an old building it could take two men a week, if it is a new building it might take one man a day - but it has to be spotless."

The bottom 8ft along the interior is then degreased, to remove wax where the animals have rubbed against the walls and which may harbour the foot-and-mouth virus.

The walls are then disinfected and, after waiting seven days, are degreased and disinfected again.

Mr Pallister said: "Every building is different, as is every case officer's method of dealing with it."

But he said case officers had demanded that some buildings be destroyed and replaced, and said costs can increase dramatically if the livestock have included cattle over 30 months.