A professor leading an inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreak in Northumbria criticised the Government and the Army last night for refusing to attend.

Northumberland County Council is hosting a five-day investigation into the spread of the virus and how rural communities were affected.

The area, which had its at-risk status lifted last night, had one of the first confirmed cases, at Heddon-on-the-Wall, in February last year.

The inquiry is being led by Professor Michael Dower, a former director general of the Countryside Commission and a lecturer in European rural development at the University of Gloucestershire.

He told the hearing yesterday that the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Army had declined to send representatives.

Both said they would reply to questions in writing.

Prof Dower said: "The panel very much regrets that neither the department nor the Army will be present to take part in these discussions.

"They played a major part in the handling of the outbreak and their absence will blunt our ability to make a fair judgment about some issues.

"It does not invalidate the inquiry and we propose to do the best we can in their absence."

Prof Dower said rural affairs minister Lord Whitty had replied to the invitation for Defra to attend the inquiry, saying staff should not be diverted from their prime task of eradicating the disease from the county.

The chairman said Brigadier Andrew Farquhar informed him that the Army was constrained by guidelines when military personnel gave evidence to inquiries.

A total of 130 groups and people will give evidence to the inquiry this week, which will report next month.

The inquiry team has asked Defra to comment on reports that a phial containing foot-and-mouth disease went missing from the Porton Down research laboratories.

Prof Dower said he was still waiting to hear from the Government department.

He wrote to Lord Whitty on January 8 with a list of questions which had arisen from information the inquiry had received locally.

The chairman said he hoped to have a reply before the end of the week-long inquiry.