European officials have produced a report on the appalling state of the UK's food and animal import controls.

Farmers claimed last night that the damning dossier showed the Government had done little to prevent future outbreaks of diseases such as foot-and-mouth.

A series of raids last year by health officials saw the seizure of illegally-imported dried and frozen meat on open sale in the North-East.

They were followed by campaigns by local farmers demanding increased border controls at ports, including Teesport and North Shields.

However, despite the concerns, a catalogue of failures has been revealed in the EU inspectors' report, following spot checks by European Commission inspectors.

They included staff shortages, below standard equipment and hygiene, and inability to trace risky food imports.

A lack of proper equipment meant that none of the posts inspected were able to meet hygiene standards.

Incomplete document keeping led to "a lack of information" on where meat was destined for - with a possible risk to human health.

Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: ''The Government has done nothing to prevent foot-and-mouth happening all over again.''

However a spokesman for Defra said the general criticisms in the report "did not reflect the true picture".

The Government, in response, has proposed a "detailed action plan" which would be in place by October. It included more trained veterinary staff, better co-operation between Government agencies; better anti-smuggling intelligence; stricter stop and search powers for enforcement officers, and closer monitoring of all border posts.

The National Farmers' Union said delays implementing the plan ''risked another foot-and-mouth epidemic".