CHILDREN played just yards from hundreds of sheep carcases left lying in upper Wensleydale when transport due to remove them failed to arrive.

Residents in the Hawes area, in the grip of foot-and-mouth, had expected five wagons to collect culled stock last Friday. Instead, only one turned up and it was Tuesday before all slaughtered animals were taken away to a rendering plant in Cheshire.

Regional Ministry of Agriculture officials blamed decisions made in London for North Yorkshire slipping down the priority list for wagons.

Coun Yvonne Peacock, who represents Askrigg ward on Richmondshire District Council, said the situation was totally unacceptable.

"The children off school for the weekend at Burtersett had to be amongst nearly 1,400 slaughtered stock," she said. "The speed at which this stock is removed concerns everyone. The devastation and heartbreak of those farmers who had just lost their stock and had to walk among it for days is terrible.

"It is only three weeks since foot and mouth was confirmed in North Yorkshire, in upper Wensleydale. It feels like three months and there is not one person in the upper dale who hasn't been affected by this."

Better communication with senior officials at the ministry of agriculture was vital. "We have a marvellous team of local men who have tried so hard to get this moving but, without containers to remove the stock, what is the point?" said Coun Peacock.

A spokesman for MAFF confirmed there had been problems removing slaughtered stock because North Yorkshire had slipped down the pecking order for the Cheshire rendering plant.

"The ministry animal health office at Leeds were up in arms because they had fallen down the queue again for access to the rendering plant," he said. "There was a pile of stock in Cumbria that needed shifting and someone in London decides where the priorities lie. We have little control at this end."

Coun Peacock told the economic, cultural and leisure committee on Tuesday that it was important carcases were taken away from Wensleydale rather than burned.

"Richmondshire does not want any more fires," she told the meeting at Colburn village hall. "Fires across our countryside will do nothing to encourage visitors and must be avoided at all costs."

She praised "brave" farmers who had volunteered healthy stock for slaughter because it had been in contact with diseased animals. She also congratulated farmers who had worked together to help each other through the crisis.

Among them was Mr William Lambert, the first North Yorkshire farmer to be hit by the disease.

His dairy herd and sheep were slaughtered when the disease was confirmed at Raygill House farm, between Hawes and Bainbridge, on March 7.

Since then he has helped other farmers in upper Wensleydale to cope with the practicalities and heartbreak of three subsequent outbreaks. He also provided machinery to help load carcases and acted as a go-between in communications between the ministry and farmers whose animals were to be slaughtered.

Mrs Claire Lambert, his wife, said: "Heavy plant would have had to come from Darlington so we hired ours out to MAFF to help with the resources. Everyone is pulling together to prevent this terrible disease spreading. We don't want a Cumbria or a Devon in Wensleydale."

Removal by lorry was preferable to pyres. "The logistics of bonfires, bringing in the coal and sleepers, and the mess are dreadful. We had our slaughtered stock burned and I felt that our property had been transformed from a farm to an industrial site," she said.

"The lorries were completely sealed and we were confident there was no risk of contamination to farms along the route to the rendering plant."

l Two business associations urged the council to help tourist related companies.

Dr Mike Nicholls, of Richmond business and tourism association, wanted immediate rate relief available for those suffering serious economic loss.

Mr Steve Ottevanger, secretary of upper Swaledale and Arkengarthdale business association, said "draconian measures" had been taken to curb tourism in the dales.

Mrs Pam Whittaker, district tourism officer, said a national advertising campaign launched this week aimed to attract people back to the countryside.

The Yorkshire Tourist Board planned a regional campaign and the Yorkshire dales joint promotions initiative, of which Richmondshire council was a member, met next week to discuss the subject.