IT is hard to imagine that the Government had a coherent disaster plan in place before the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Two months into the crisis - and with suspicion rife that the authorities knew of a potential outbreak long before it became official - Britain continues to appear to fight the disease more by guesswork than planning.

The questions go on and on: Should we slaughter, vaccinate, or both. At what point should the Army have been mobilised? Where do the carcasses of the dead animals go?

Of course it is easy with hindsight. But we knew from the 1967 outbreak just how savage foot and mouth can be. So why weren't we better prepared?

Yesterday, Agriculture Minister Nick Brown confirmed that the Government is considering a limited vaccination programme in disease "hotspots".

It is a reaction to a paper by a committee headed by the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor David King, who says vaccinating cattle in Cumbria before they are moved from winter barns to spring pastures could reduce levels of infection.

Why is such information only now coming through from the Government's key advisors? Millions of animals have already been slaughtered and still we are not sure if there was a better alternative. In the meantime, the Government is - by its own admission - running out of ideas for coping with the disposal of slaughtered animals.

The disaster plan in Portugal is clear-cut: All of its cattle will be inoculated if a single case is reported in neighbouring Spain. Of course, it has had the benefit of being alerted by what has happened here, but its strategy is nevertheless in place before a crisis hits. In Portugal, they would not be waiting for scientific advice two months into a disaster.

We all it will be a long time before foot and mouth wreaks such havoc again.

But it must not be a case of 'waiting for the next time'. Strategies - based on the lessons learned from this epidemic - must be established and constantly updated.

That way, when foot and mouth rears its ugly ahead in the future, there will be a clearly-defined plan of action.

And we will not be running around in a manner reminiscent of a Dad's Army operation, with Corporal Jones flapping his arms and yelling: "Don't panic."