A FORMER National Farmers' Union (NFU) leader has called for a ban on imports of meat from countries where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic.

Alan Scott, a county councillor and former chairman of the NFU in County Durham, voiced his concerns at a meeting with the Government's rural recovery co-ordinator, Lord Christopher Haskins.

Mr Scott, who farms in Teesdale, County Durham, said: "I feel quite strongly that we brought all these meat products in from the countries where it's endemic. If we had never had them, foot-and-mouth might never have spread.

"I want this stuff coming from these countries stopped. We should never have had it in the first place. Most of it is cheap rubbish.

"We don't want to be put through all this pain again. It has been a terrible time for us all. As well as the financial loss, it has been disastrous mentally.

"I'm told we're bringing more in now than we were before we had foot-and-mouth, but we don't want it from these countries, which are producing it for nothing."

At the meeting, last week, Lord Haskins said the UK had to import produce as it was not self-sufficient.

But Mr Scott said: "We are self-sufficient in lamb and I'd say we're 80 per cent self-sufficient in beef.

"We could be self-sufficient if we were encouraged to farm properly.

"In these two products, we could save bringing this stuff in from Argentina and other places where foot-and-mouth is endemic."