NO EVIDENCE has been found of an anthrax burial at a development site at Drakewalls, officers at Caradon District Council confirmed this week.

Geophysics surveys were conducted on land adjacent to Drakewalls Gardens following a rumour that a cow and calf with anthrax had been buried there in the 1920s.

A disease which is particularly virulent in cattle, sheep and goats, it is possible for anthrax to be passed on to humans through various ways, including inhalation of the spores, which can survive in the soil for decades.

Caradon District Council environmental services department said at the time there was insufficient evidence either to confirm or rule out the cattle burial due to a fire at the Government office which destroyed paperwork covering this period and investigations would need to be undertaken.

'We take our responsibilities to protect the health of people in South East Cornwall very seriously, and our environmental services team is co-ordinating and facilitating investigations into the site, working closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the Health Protection Agency and Defra.'

Assistant head of environmental services Martin Gregory said this week two types of geophysics surveys were carried out and no anomalies were found.

He said nothing showed up on the development site but a risk assessment had been included in the remediation plan just in case the developers came across something unexpected and this had been approved by all parties.