Surrey County Conservatives

Foot and Mouth restrictions remain in place (22nd January)

Some restrictions put in place after last summers Foot and Mouth outbreaks remain in place.

SCC’s Executive Member for the Environment, Peter Martin, today reminded members that despite a widespread belief that all restrictions had been lifted this wasn’t the case.

Responding to a question from Marisa Heath, Mr. Martin stated: “A few Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) restrictions do still apply - with good reason.

Just after Christmas Defra issued a press notice indicating that all the foot and mouth restrictions had been lifted, whereas the actual infected places within Surrey remain closed on Defra's authority. The enforcement of the closure falls to the County Council and Trading Standards have been addressing this situation. Some members of the public have chosen to ignore the closure signs, despite the fact that the notice indicates that the land may remain closed until September 2008”.

He praised both Surrey’s Trading Standards officers for their continued hard work and vigilance, as well as the farming community. The NFU as an organisation and individual farmers have been spreading the message that a few specific sites are closed to the public and reporting infringements.

Miss Heath said that she hoped the message would get across. “Once again the staff of Surrey Trading Standards are doing a first rate job in dealing with Foot and Mouth. Whilst there have been no new cases for months it is important that we do everything we can to ensure that the chances of new outbreaks are kept to a minimum.

It is the responsibility of all of us not to ignore Keep Out signs and I would urge the public to be vigilant.

I would like to thank Mr. Martin for his reassurance and Peter Denard for the continued hard work of him and his staff”.