THE shadow of foot-and-mouth fell across another corner of the North-East last night as police cordoned off an abattoir suspected of harbouring the disease.

Government vets moved in last night to inspect the abattoir run by Stockton Butchers Slaughterhouse Company on the edge of the town and stopped all movements in and out of the Yarm Road plant.

Although the presence of foot-and-mouth has not yet been confirmed by the investigation, the mere threat of an outbreak on Teesside, which has so far been disease-free, will alarm the area's farmers and livestock workers.

About 30 workers were at the abattoir when police arrived to tape off the site, along with 200 sheep and a number of cattle.

Inspector Simon Wilkinson, of Cleveland Police, said: "We are at the moment, investigating the possibility of foot -and-mouth.

"Nothing has been confirmed yet."

But one local butcher said last night: "This is the last thing we want. I got some stuff from there only last week. If this is true, I am very concerned. I just hope that it is not the case."

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said last night that confirmation of the outbreak could take up to a week.

He added: "We don't comment on unconfirmed cases, the people involved have too much to do. We will let people know if it is confirmed."

The abattoir's boss, Mike Broad, was last night unavailable for comment.

Another case has been confirmed in County Durham at a sheep and cattle farm at Muggleswick, near Consett.

There are now seven confirmed cases in County Durham, six in Tyne and Wear, three in Northumberland and one at Hawes in North Yorkshire.

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