WEST Devon spoke with one voice at a packed foot and mouth crisis meeting called by MP John Burnett on Saturday. And the call was clear — step up Government action now.

NFU officials, Dartmoor commoners, councillors and representatives of trade and tourist industries crowded the borough council chamber in Tavistock to put their views to the MP and Tim Jones, a member of the Government's new Rural Task Force.

The meeting was held within hours of confirmation of a major outbreak of foot and mouth at Bridestowe — news that sent a fresh shudder through the already shell-shocked farming community.

Mr Burnett, chairing the meeting instead of attending the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Torquay, was 'very disappointed' at the lack of co-ordination between government departments. He had made the point 'most forcibly' to ministers that information coming from MAFF 'on the ground' was incomplete.

The MP said the situation for West Devon's economy was 'a catastrophe' — he was also concerned about the isolation of farmers caught up in the crisis.

'I don't want sympathy, I don't want words, I want action,' he said.

There was consensus at the meeting that the Ministry of Defence should be involved — but mixed messages, conflicting and incomplete information from MAFF officials came in for heavy criticism.

James McInnes, chairman of Hatherleigh and Okehampton NFU, said: 'Get the Army involved — we have to sort this business out. We have absolute devastation around Hatherleigh.'

He asked if an office could be set up in the town where people affected by the outbreak could go for advice and support.

Cherry Seage, speaking for Dartmoor Commoners' Council, criticised 'disorganised' culls. She said some farmers had to wait for days before animals were slaughtered, then had to live with piles of decomposing carcasses which could not be taken away for rendering because the lorries were too big to get down lanes to the farm.

And the commoners' chairman, John Hodge, described the situation as a 'horror story' and criticised MAFF for delays in giving information to farmers.

Simon Whattler, secretary of Okehampton NFU, was convinced there was a gap in communication between MAFF in Exeter and MAFF in London.

And Alan Jukes, secretary of Tavistock NFU, said a local system of parish representatives should be set up to collect and distribute information.

Nick Payne, head of environmental services at the borough council, said: 'There is a state of emergency here and we can't understand why the Government won't accept that.

'We need co-ordinated action at local level, in terms of dealing with the outbreak and the long-term recovery.'

Joe Williamson, of Harford Bridge Camping and Holiday Park, highlighted the blow being dealt to the tourist industry, particularly for those who had made major investments. 'It will be torpedoed this year,' he said.

Tim Jones, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Business Council who has lived in the Okehampton area for 30 years, said businesses were 'bleeding to death'.

He promised the task force would be bluntly given the messages from the meeting to Government ministers.

'It is still seen as a rural problem — only now I think the message is getting through,' he said.

The council's Independent Group leader Peter Hill asked for Mr Burnett to bring all of Devon's MPs together to show a united front for the county in the midst of the crisis.

The Liberal Democrat Group leader on the council, Nicholas Waterhouse, said there would be a 'huge ripple effect' with a wide range of industries suffering as a result of the outbreak.

Consensus in crisis was underlined when Cllr Dick Eberlie, leader of the borough council's Conservative Group, expressed thanks to John Burnett. He said local people were 'very grateful' for the hard work the MP was putting in at government level on behalf of West Devon.

Mr Burnett said that, so far, in the House of Commons there had been 'a remarkable absence of petty point-scoring' over the crisis.

On Monday, leaders of all three groups on the council — Conservative, Independent and Liberal Democrat — wrote jointly to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to 'respond without delay' to the unanimous call to deploy the Army in the foot and mouth battle.

On Tuesday night, MAFF announced up to 130 members of the Royal Military Police would be available to deploy to Exeter where they will enhance command and control and provide supervision of the disposal of slaughtered animal.

MAFF says this will speed up the disposal process and release vets to tackle the spread of the disease.

Mr Burnett, who asked for the Army to be brought in three weeks ago, welcomed the decision but said it was inadequate. 'It is still not enough. We need more troops and more plant and equipment,' he said.