A WOMAN farmer has hit out at the attitude of a government minister as he arrived in a foot-and-mouth hotspot to promote a biosecurity campaign.

North Yorkshire sheep farmer Eleanor Graham, who has 3,000 Swaledale sheep, claims Mr Elliot Morley told her she would be better back at her farm than protesting outside the launch meeting in Goathland.

Another protester said Mr Morley, the Animal Health Minister, also indicated that his vehicle had not been disinfected before arriving in the village - just five miles from Lealholm which has been devastated by the disease.

But Mr Morley said later that the protest underlined why biosecurity was needed in the fight against foot-and-mouth. "People must understand what the risks are," he said. "Biosecurity remains the watchword in the battle to bring foot-and-mouth to an end."

The small protest group had gathered outside the Goathland hotel where Mr Morley was meeting farmers, vets, landowners and other community representatives last Friday to hammer home the biosecurity message.

Smallholder Mr Tim Close said he had been asked to allow a field next to Teeswater sheep to be used as a car park for the event, but had turned down the request.

"If this meeting is to push bio-security, why have it five miles from Lealholm?" he asked. "The minister says he is worried about moorland sheep, yet when we asked if his vehicle had been disinfected he said 'no'. He said any virus on the wheels would be killed off by the heat of the vehicle's motion. That is rubbish."

"We want to see a workable policy introduced to stop this virus and it will take more than this campaign," said Mr Close. "We are very, very frightened yet Mr Morley implied that we were being irresponsible and that it is often farmers who are spreading the disease."

Mr Morley said: "Driving down a road in a rural area carries a miniscule risk compared with moving livestock around or machinery and vehicles. That is the message we want to send out."

The biosecurity campaign features a Defra video and leaflet explaining the measures which can be taken to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth. Copies are being sent to all livestock farmers in England.

Whitby MP Mr Lawrie Quinn was at the meeting and said: "Farmers must keep up their guard. We want to stop this dead in its tracks and start rebuilding the rural economy."

But Whitby area farmer Mr Gavin Stainthorpe was not impressed. "I have never stopped disinfecting even though I have lost all my cattle and sheep," he said. "This meeting was a waste of time. We have heard it all before."

Another local farmer, Mr John Morley agreed: "This is too little too late. We have been taking precautions from the very first and have worked relentlessly. Our farms are spotless."

Mr Elliot Morley claimed the outbreak was at its tail end, confined to a number of hotspots, including the area he was visiting.

"Much of the spread is by vehicle movement, especially from farm to farm, through milk tankers and such. We are working with the milk industry on this," he said.

He wanted biosecurity implemented, not just in hotspots: "We must keep our foot on the pedal and eradicate this completely."

Mr Morley said a conference on vaccination would be held in the autumn.

Mr Ron Hall of the Tenant Farmers' Association said: "It's no good telling farmers to be biosecurity conscious, then launching the campaign here. We have been advised not to come off our land. They could have done this in Pickering or Helmsley, on the edge of the danger area.

"They are not doing morale any good by always blaming the farmers."

l A showdown is looming over path closures in the North York Moors national park.

Mr Morley says he will meet the park authority and the county council and seems ready to challenge the park's tough line on opening up more of the area.

The clash comes as it emerges that the national park economy has lost £20m through the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The park wants to maintain a blanket closure of the central moorland area while re-opening some livestock-free paths. It is joining the county council in a bid to contest a move by Defra to rescind an order maintaining blanket closures.

Asked about the issue at the Goathland meeting, Mr Morley said that, generally speaking, it was considered safe to open paths outside the 3km exclusion zones. "In North Yorkshire it is appropriate to apply other measures to keep paths closed," he said. "But this does not justify a blanket closure. Discussions will take place."

The park transport and tourism officer, Mr Bill Breakell, was also at the meeting and said: "It was a positive session emphasising the need for constant vigilance. We need to look at the recovery programme and how we can safeguard jobs and businesses." He expected the park to continue its tough line on paths.

Commenting on Mr Morley's remark that the outbreak was "at the tail end" he said: "If that's the case, it is a very sharp tail."