AN Okehampton farmer has recalled the ordeal of three days of 'living hell' as MAFF officials decided the fate of his animals.

David Heard's cattle at Place Farm, on the edge of Dartmoor, were suspected of having foot and mouth disease by a vet last Wednesday — but when the animals showed signs of improvement the farmer sought a second opinion fearing the huge consequences to the countryside from a confirmed case on his farm.

His actions, which prevented the inevitable slaughter of 20,000 animals, have been praised by West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett but Mr Heard, whose family have been farming in the area for generations, said he was just standing up for what was right.

'With foot and mouth disease there is a deterioration within hours,' he said. 'My cows appeared to be 100 per cent better later on Wednesday.

'When the authorities were notified by the vet that we had foot and mouth I said, hang on a minute, I want a second opinion.

'My farm borders eight other farms and if mine went down these others would have come with me - we are talking around 20,000 animals. The whole countryside would have been wiped out and Dartmoor was implicated.'

As slaughtermen and military police arrived on Thursday morning to kill Mr Heard's 900 sheep and 100 cattle, a sen#ior vet who had arrived to give a second opinion was not happy with the confirmation of foot and mouth at Place Farm, which had already appeared on Ceefax.

'All the cattle were checked and there was no sign of blisters in their mouths,' said the farmer. 'It turned out that it was laminitis in their feet due to a bad bale of silage.'

Mr Heard said hours were spent on the phone as he enlisted the help of MP John Burnett, who went 'to the top' in a bid to stop the 'unnecessary' cull.

The farmer pleaded with MAFF to be downgraded from a confirmed case to a dangerous contact case which would have meant the

sole slaughter of his animals.

By 4pm on Thursday the confirmation had been totally rescinded.

Speaking to the Times on Friday, Mr Heard said he felt so happy to go outside and hear his cattle roaring for their feed.

'Even bedding them down is a pleasure and after doing that for five months through the winter that is quite something to say,' he added.

'So many farmers have lost everything and my heart goes out to them. Every farmer in the country is living on a knife-edge at the moment and the pressure gets worse day by day.'

Mr Heard said the support of his family and friends had got him through the last few days and weeks: 'It's been a living hell — I have not slept for days,' he said.

'I have had calls from all over the country from farmers in support of what I have done — but I am no hero. I had a clean herd of cattle and taking them out would have been ridiculous considering the dire consequences it would have had for the whole countryside around here.'

With neighbouring farms stretching well into Dartmoor, Mr Heard said flocks that had been on the moor for a 100 years would have been at risk of being killed, especially if the Government brought in the policy to cull everything within two kilometres of a confirmed case.

'I would just like to say through the

Okehampton Times that if it was not for John Burnett and our local representatives from the NFU I do not believe the confirmation would have been rescinded, so I want to thank them for all they have done.'

Mr Heard, who comes from a long line of farmers, said the Government was very late in realising the foot and mouth crisis and they still did not have a grip on it.

'There should be somebody in control who can give us a definitive yes or no — not a politician but an expert. We are at crisis point here in Devon. If there was someone in charge in Exeter overseeing the crisis they could be down here within half an hour.'

Mr Burnett, who during the crisis at Mr Heard's farm had spoken to Agriculture Minister Nick Brown's private secretary three times and to chief vet Jim Scudamore, said he had helped in whatever way he could in the situation but praised Mr Heard for being 'utterly unselfish'.

'The last person David was thinking of was himself — he was concerned for his neighbours and other members of his family and the consequences for Dartmoor,' said Mr Burnett.

'He was willing to take the cull if he was downgraded to a dangerous contact farm for the sake of the people around him and I think that is fantastic.'

The MP described the situation in Devon as 'disasterville' and called for more resources on the ground. 'It is vitally important we have experienced vets making these decisions,' he said. 'I think the urgency of the situation is something that is finally coming home to the Government.

'I have said it time and time again in the House of Commons that foot and mouth is coming on us like a tidal wave but it is only since the Prime Minister got involved that we seem to be getting some action.'