DISMAY settled over the Yorkshire Dales last night with a second case of foot-and-mouth confirmed in as many days.

The fresh outbreak came as a screening programme was launched in Northumberland after three people involved in the foot-and-mouth cull contracted a rare disease.

The men, working on infected farms in the area, have been struck down by Q Fever - an illness similar to flu which can kill in rare cases.

They all received hospital treatment and two have since been discharged.

There were only 75 cases reported in England and Wales last year.

More than 400 sheep and 70 cattle were being slaughtered yesterday at Dale Foot Farm, in Bishopdale, North Yorkshire - the second in the area to have the disease confirmed within 24 hours.

But others with livestock are hoping swift culls will prevent it spreading further in an area which thought it was over the worst.

"It's like a nightmare," said tearful farmer Avril McGregor, from Dale Foot Farm.

"We have absolutely no idea where the disease has come from, but now we just have to keep our fingers crossed for our friends and neighbours,'' she added.

The McGregors also own a pedigree dairy herd at a different farm and were yesterday negotiating with Defra in the hope they can be saved.

The latest outbreaks are also grim news for the tourist industry in neighbouring Wensleydale.

A spokesman for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority said: "This is bound to complicate matters, and it is bound to have an implication for businesses.''

But organisers have confirmed the Middleham Festival will continue during the next ten days.

Details can be checked by calling (01969) 623497.

Meanwhile, animals at three farms at Lealholm on the North York Moors were slaughtered yesterday, and livestock at a farm near Skipton were also slaughtered on suspicion of having the disease.

l Bishop Auckland MP Derek Foster backed growing demands for a full public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

But Rural Affairs Secretary Margaret Beckett, despite coming under strong pressure from MPs on both sides of the Commons, would promise only a "thorough" inquiry when the outbreak is over.