Ananova The first new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease to hit Scotland for a week has been confirmed. Animals on Kirkbryde Farm, Drummore, on the southern tip of the Mull of Galloway, have been diagnosed with the infection. All 200 cattle on the farm will be slaughtered under the Executive's strategy to contain foot-and-mouth. The outbreak takes the total number of Scottish cases to 183, all but eight of them in Dumfries and Galloway.

-- Ron Trapnell (fridayfiles@space.com), May 15, 2001

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Foot-and-mouth found in Yorkshire Dales

Ananova

The village of Malham is deserted after foot-and-mouth cast a new shadow over the Yorkshire Dales. Locals continue to insist that the village remains open.

Two cases of foot-and-mouth have been confirmed in the Dales, one in Malham Moor and the other in sheep kept to the north of Stainforth village.

Maff officials at Low Trenhouse farm, Malham Moor, are in the process of slaughtering more than 100 cattle and 1,400 sheep, with neighbouring farms facing the same prospect.

A week after seeing an upturn in fortune, local businesses were left "shell-shocked" by the latest developments.

There were road closures to the north of the village, heading towards Malham Moor - and the cost to local livelihoods is an unfortunate knock-on effect.

Within hours of the road closures and a media report declaring the tiny village closed to the public one local business had lost £1,000 in bookings.

Despite insisting that the village remained open, the damage was already done, locals say.

Allan Boatwright has decided to sell Beck Hall Guest House, he says, as takings fell.

He said: "I cannot see us surviving without incurring large debts. It will probably take us three years just to recover from this year and I can't see any end to it."

-- Ron Trapnell (fridayfiles@space.com), May 15, 2001.