THE spread of foot-and-mouth is threatening the 200-acre deer park surrounding a North-East ancestral home.

Panic set in among staff at Raby Estates yesterday after it was confirmed that sheep at a farm close to Raby Castle, the home of Lord Barnard, near Staindrop, County Durham, were infected.

But while thousands of sheep and cattle have been slaughtered on surrounding farms, it looks like Raby's deer may narrowly escape the same fate.

The estate's 400 red and fallow deer, hunted on the land since Norman times, graze some distance from the infected farm.

But some of Lord Barnard's cattle may be slaughtered if the disease spreads further. The estate's Home Farm is just over half a mile from the infected Groves Farm, which is run by Stan Thompson and owned by Lord Barnard.

The fate of Raby Estate's 60 longhorn cattle and flock of sheep will depend on tests carried out on animals at neighbouring farms.

Lord Barnard was unavailable for comment last night, but Stephen Rochford, manager of Raby Estates, said: "It looks like we have narrowly escaped being classed as contiguous, but we won't know for sure until Maff have finished testing.

"Obviously, we and Lord Barnard feel for the tenants who have lost livestock, and we are praying that our own animals are not next.

"If it spreads to our deer it would be devastating - the idea of Raby without deer just does not bear thinking about."

Phil Barber, National Farmers' Union representative for Teesdale, said the disease had appeared in an area densely populated by livestock.

He said: "The area surrounding Groves Farm is crammed full of livestock farms.

"I think we all thought that the disease may have cleared from that area, but it clearly hasn't and it all depends on the next few days as to whether Raby Estates manage to escape."