A DRAMATIC fall in the number of slaughterhouses has been held partly to blame for the rapid spread of the disease.

The cost of new regulations has seen hundreds of abattoirs close over the past ten years, meaning animals now have to travel further to slaughter.

Figures from the Meat and Livestock Commission show that, 20 years ago, there were 1,135 abattoirs in the UK, but now that has fallen to 387.

Alex Traves, a wholesale butcher of Escrick, near York, said yesterday that abattoirs now had to have a vet present during much of the slaughtering, costing about £50 an hour.

He said: "A lot of abattoirs have closed in recent years because it has become uneconomical for them. Everything has gone up - transport costs, vets' bills and structural alterations we had to do, and charges for disposal of waste."

Teesdale farmer Richard Betton, former NFU county chairman for County Durham and the North Riding, said the reduction in the number of abattoirs may have made it easier for the disease to spread.

He said: "The system is over-regimented and it has become too costly for many of the smaller firms to comply with the regulations.