THE owner of Hatherleigh's West Devon Meat said last week he did not know how other abattoirs could make a living if they had tendered three times lower than him for a Government cow culling contract.

Peter Bowyer is devastated by the withdrawal of the OTMS (Over Thirty Month Cattle Scheme) contract from Hatherleigh's largest employer which he says is the most efficient abattoir for killing cull cattle in England.

West Devon Borough councillors have been informed that the tender price from the abattoir, which was killing over 2,000 cows a week under the scheme, was about three times the price quoted by the nearest abattoir at Bridgwater.

But Mr Bowyer, who was the only abattoir owner in Devon to hold an OTMS contract, said he could not believe this was the case.

'If my prices are three times higher then there is no way they can do the job,' he said. 'My average price for killing 2,000-plus is £22.66 per animal and out of that I pay £4.50 Meat and Livestock Commission levy.

'This means that an abattoir with a tender price three times lower is charging £3.50 an animal and to me that's just not feasible.'

Mr Bowyer, whose contract was withdrawn last Wednesday week, said he did not think all the figures had been taken into consideration, which included the on-costs of the Meat Hygiene Service staff and the administration costs.

He said by killing more animals an hour than many other abattoirs he was saving the Government money on meat hygiene service costs.

'There are many things the Government has not taken into consideration and that includes the cost to farmers which will be £20 more an animal to get them to another abattoir.

'When it comes down to it the Government's only concern is the cost to itself. Never mind employment in rural areas or farmers' incomes.

'The men that work for me run this plant more efficiently than anyone else in England in killing cull cattle.

He said from 1991 the majority of his business has been killing cows for consumption or the OTMS scheme, which has been running for the last three-and-a-half years after BSE regulations came in.

He did not believe there was another abattoir in the country killing within 700 of the animals West Devon Meat has per week.

The owner said he was not very optimistic that the Government would change its mind on withdrawing the contract.

'I will make an announcement in the New Year regarding redundancies,' he said. 'I expect that 40 per cent of the staff will have to lose their jobs.'

In a debate in the House of Commons last week West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett called for Junior Agriculture Minister Joyce Quin to bring in a transitional cull quota for West Devon Meat while the company had an opportunity to challenge the tender figures quoted by the Government-appointed Intervention Board.

Points raised included farmers having to travel up to 160 miles to the nearest abattoir, the animal welfare issue and the unlikelihood of the remaining abattoirs being able to cope with the quantity of cattle needing to be culled.

Okehampton and Hatherleigh NFU chairman James McInnes, who travelled to London to attend the debate with a coachload of farmers from Devon, has accused Ms Quin of hiding behind her civil servants.

'They told her everything would be all right and she believed them,' he said.

l HATHERLEIGH Town Council has written to Minister of Agriculture Nick Brown and the Intervention Board to ask them to reconsider withdrawing the cattle culling scheme from West Devon Meat.

The council says the move will have a drastic effect on the town in terms of unemployment and the social structure.

With West Devon Meat being the largest employer in Hatherleigh, town clerk Gina Lane said the inevitable job losses would have a big effect on other businesses and the social structure.

'Everybody in the community is affected by this and the town council has written in support of the abattoir and asked the minister to reconsider the decision.'