THE Government was last night facing determined opposition from many farmers and food producers to plans for a limited vaccination programme to ''dampen down'' foot-and-mouth in the worst-hit parts of Britain.

After lengthy meetings with Government scientists, the National Farmers' Union said there were still ''major issues'' that needed to be cleared up before it could give its approval, and warned the process could take as long as a fortnight.

And the Food and Drink Federation expressed concern over vaccination, which it said could deal a blow to consumer perceptions of British produce and invite further export restrictions.

One of farmers' main concerns over the use of jabs is that they will make their produce unsaleable, even though the Food Standards Agency insists that meat and milk from treated animals poses no threat to human health.

The Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) said last night that as of 7pm, the number of foot-and-mouth cases had reached 1,382, an increase of 19 since Tuesday.

There was only one new outbreak in the North-East - at High Farm, Cleatlam, Winston, County Durham.

Ministry of Defence sources said there were ''encouraging signs'' that the outbreak was coming under control and claimed that figures suggesting a massive backlog of animals awaiting slaughter were misleading, as it took time for reports of culls to filter through.

Last night, health chiefs in the worst-hit area called a halt on the use of pyres to burn thousands of animal carcasses, amid fears that the smoke might affect the health of people living downwind.

North Cumbria Health Authority said Maff had agreed to stop incineration until a national assessment of the health risks is completed.

Downing Street said yesterday that the Government accepted in principle advice from the chief vet, Jim Scudamore, and chief scientist Professor David King that a limited programme to vaccinate cattle in Cumbria, and possibly Devon, was ''justified as a means of protecting those animals".

But vaccination must not be considered a substitute for the widescale slaughtering programme, which would continue.

Prof King has acknowledged that a vaccination programme would require support from ''at least 60 per cent'' of farmers to proceed.

NFU leader Ben Gill was yesterday briefed by Mr Scudamore and Prof King on the arguments for targeted vac-cination of cattle which are shortly to be released from winter barns to pasture, where they may come into contact with the infection.

Following the meeting, Mr Gill said a number of issues still required clarification, and warned it could be as long as two weeks before his concerns were resolved.

He acknowledged that, to be effective, the jabs would have to be administered swiftly, before the cattle left their barns. But he said: ''The need to delay it until we have got the answers is absolutely paramount."

Mr Gill said he was coming under pressure from the Government, but insisted: ''I will never be bounced. I will stick to my analysis of the strategy with the help from the best brains. I will oppose any policy that I do not agree with."

A spokesman for the NFU in Cumbria said his members would consider vaccination when their concerns had been addressed by the Government.

But in Devon, where no new cases have been reported for several days, NFU branch chairman David Hill said he did not believe it was in the interests of the county to vaccinate.

In the North-East, David Maughan, Durham and Northumberland NFU livestock committee chairman, said: "I think we have to see through the culling because in a few weeks we could be able to see the end of it.

"If there was a vaccination that was 100 per cent effective, I would say yes, but there isn't."

Meanwhile, the Food and Drink Federation said it would support the proposed scheme only as a last resort.

A spokeswoman said:''The foot-and-mouth outbreak has led to substantial losses in the food and drink manufacturing industry. Vaccination risks prolonging export restrictions and increasing losses further."

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