A FARMER fears his sick cattle will die because he is prevented from moving them to a barn about 200 yards away.

George Jackson can only watch as his sick heifers and their calves deteriorate in a water-logged field.

The cows, at Cherry Tree Farm, near Ferryhill, County Durham, have pneumonia. But although the sanctuary of a cow shed is a stone's throw away, restrictions on cattle movements prevent him from moving them there.

Mr Jackson said: "They're in a distressed state. We wanted to move them. They are running about in mud and slurry.

"The nearest foot-and-mouth outbreak is three or four miles away."

But to move the animals, Mr Harrison would have to move them across a road, which is not allowed under Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) rules.

A Maff spokesman said Mr Jackson would require a licence to move his animals.

His case came to light as the row over livestock movements intensified, with calls on the Government to relax the rules.

David Hill, chairman of the NFU in Devon, said yesterday he "could not condemn" farmers worried about their animals' welfare who moved them illegally rather than see them dying in appalling conditions.

Tory leader and Richmond MP William Hague called for vets to be allowed to license movements of uninfected livestock to ease the growing animal welfare emergency.

He said farmers should abide by movement restrictions, but added: "Across the country, there are appalling scenes of animals suffering. New-born lambs are drowning in mud because they cannot be moved to new grazing land.

"Farms are becoming so overcrowded that in some cases pigs cannot move or even sit down."

In County Durham, trading standards officers have received 100 complaints of illegal animal movements, of which up to five are likely to end in court.

A Maff spokesman said: "We would strongly urge farmers not to be their own worst enemy by acting illegally and helping to spread the disease."

Ben Gill, NFU president and a North Yorkshire farmer, said that farmers should stick to the law.

He said: "If anybody has wilfully, intentionally done something wrong, then every farmer in this country will wish to have the book thrown at that person."