ON December 6 the Chief Veterinary Officer for England issued a prevention zone order with enhanced biosecurity for poultry and captive birds in response to the presence of a virulent H5N8 strain of avian flu that was circulating in Europe.

Poultry keepers are required to keep their birds indoors or to take appropriate steps to keep them separate from wild birds. These restrictions were initially for 30 days but have been extended to February 28. The implementation of these restrictions was widely reported in the media and a quick search shows that there have been at least nine articles about avian flu in the Northern Echo in the past two months.

Outbreaks of H5N8 avian flu have now been recorded in wild birds all over the UK, and there have been outbreaks in poultry flocks in Lincolnshire, Wales and worryingly close in Settle, North Yorkshire.

However, in my travels around my council ward I see many poultry keepers have not complied with the advice from Defra. Last week I saw chickens and ducks free in Cockfield, Evenwood, Ramshaw, Woodland and Butterknowle, and in two places wild birds were mixing with the poultry and eating their food.

We are risking an outbreak of this nasty bird flu locally. If it arrives all the birds in the flock must be culled and a 10km surveillance and restriction zone is put in place.

Heather Smith, Evenwood.