GOVERNMENT ministers and officials have a fundamental lack of understanding of rural issues, says Vale of York MP Miss Anne McIntosh.

"It is not so much a north-south divide, but a rural-urban divide," she told a packed meeting of farmers in Thirsk.

In the second meeting she had called, Miss McIntosh expressed concern that, although the foot-and-mouth crisis was over, there were now many more problems for farmers.

"I'm not surprised Thirsk was listed as one of the poorest areas in North Yorkshire," she said. "The foot-and-mouth crisis has been responsible for much of this both farming and tourist-wise.

"My main concern now is the failure to stop personal imports of food into this country by tourists or visitors in their luggage. This is one of the biggest problems to be tackled.

Also deeply worrying was the lack of adequate investment in disease prevention, nor was there any contingency plan before foot-and-mouth arrived. Government officials knew that, but did nothing until it was too late.

The £2.7bn paid out in compensation by the government might sound a lot, said Miss McIntosh, but it only took into account the dead weight of livestock to be culled, not the investment or true living value, or any loss of income.

On the handling of the crisis, she said she was still pushing for an independent inquiry and felt the Government was losing its argument for not staging one.

Regarding the new Animal Health Act, now with the House of Lords, she said: "This cannot be allowed to go through without amendments or farmers will have no legal control over what happens on their farms should there be a future crisis."

Mr Harry Woodhead, from Thirsk auction mart, complained about the contradictory advice given by Defra officials. "I was given the go-ahead by a vet to open the auction on Monday and arranged with a farmer to receive some sheep. I later received another call from London to say that I could not open the premises on Monday.

"We are trying to meet all the regulations and help farmers get back on their feet but one official is overruling the other without giving business a thought. We realise it is difficult, but how can we organise haulage contractors with this kind of thing going on?

Several farmers complained about valuations of sheds on farm property.

They reported that they had received massive rates bills, up to £10,000 in some instances, because they had machinery stored in their sheds.

"The government is encouraging farmers to work in shared rings, with neighbours helping each other, but we are being penalised by extra rates because we are being classed as contract farmers. Small farmers are being discriminated against." said one.

Miss McIntosh promised to take all points forward to London.