A CONSIGNMENT of pig carcasses was turned away from a North-East dump last night after Agriculture Minister Joyce Quin intervened.

There was outrage in Guisborough, east Cleveland, when a lorry containing 330 carcasses arrived at a landfill site at Thorntons Field, Dunsdale.

The site is only yards from where disease-free animals are kept.

Police held back the lorry as council officials demanded answers.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council managed to prevent the dumping after four hours of negotiations and the intervention of Ms Quin.

Council leader David Walsh faxed a letter to the Gateshead MP, saying the situation was ridiculous, when he learned of the dumping yesterday morning.

He said: "It seems totally inappropriate to bring animals from an area where infection occurred to dispose of them in an area free from foot-and-mouth."

Ms Quin managed to get the consignment turned away and has asked the council to prepare a report for Baroness Hayman, the Government minister in charge of the logistics and operational side of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Chief executive Colin Moore said: "We are delighted that this isn't happening. We realise we may have to have a part to play, but it should be done sensitively and with full local consultation, and we would prefer that this happens."

The pigs had been transported from Hawick, Scotland, for slaughter at Witton le Wear, County Durham, the centre of the foot-and-mouth epidemic in the North-East.

The cull was carried out on the orders of the Intervention Board, the Government agency which administers the EU Common Agricultural Policy in the UK.

The board has been forced to buy animals which, although not contaminated, cannot be sold at market.

Biffa Waste Services, which runs the site at Guisborough, said the company had been asked to help with the disposal of healthy livestock.

A spokesman said: "Biffa has been reassured that the transport and disposal of the carcasses will pose no danger to the health of other livestock in the area.

"The movement of the animals, in covered containers, is being organised and managed by Maff, and as a precautionary measure the carcasses and the vehicles will be disinfected."

Read more about Foot-and-Mouth here.