THE foot-and-mouth crisis escalated as a result of incompetence and mismanagement, according to a European Union inquiry.

A temporary committee was set up in the European Parliament at the request of Conservative Euro-MPs when the UK Government refused to hold one.

On Wednesday, its findings were published, and Martin Callanan, North-East Conservative MEP, claimed it had humiliated the Government.

The inquiry found that on almost every point it looked at, including the use of vaccination and imposition of a movement ban, the Government failed to take quick and effective action.

"Virtually every aspect of the Government's conduct throughout the crisis is the subject of criticism," Mr Callanan claimed.

"In fact, the committee found that only once the Government withdrew and let the army take control did things start to improve."

Once the findings have been ratified they should go before the European Agriculture Council so they can be discussed by Ministers and acted upon.

However, Dr Gordon Adam, Labour European spokesman on agriculture and rural affairs, claimed the Conservatives and Green members had failed to lay the blame for the crisis at the door of the British Government.

"The report does not neglect the horrors of the crisis nor the trauma suffered by those involved either directly or indirectly," said Dr Adam.

"Nor does it run away from the mistakes in policy or administration. It largely succeeds in concentrating on those issues which need to be addressed at European level."

He said the report emphasised the exceptional difficulties in handling the outbreak .

"On the day the first case was confirmed, 57 farms in 16 counties were already infected," he said. "This was far beyond the scale of any reasonable contingency planning. Hindsight has been the main witness."

Key points agreed by the committee included:

* There was no proper contingency plan in place to deal with the outbreak.

* Vaccination should have been used as a firebreak. Should another outbreak occur vaccination must be used to greater effect.

* The Government failed to make use of all ranges of available vaccines.

* A breakdown of information from the ministry to the regions resulted in confusion and delay.

* Movement of animals should have been stopped at the same time as the export ban was imposed, ie within 24 hours.

* Because a market took place in the North-West of England three days after the outbreak, the number of cases increased by an estimated 50pc.

* It questioned the legality of the contiguous cull which, it felt, did little to control the spread of disease but resulted in the slaughter of thousands of healthy animals.

* The ministry was completely out of its depth - only when the army was called in did containment take effect