BIRD flu has been confirmed in Herefordshire for the first time this winter, with all poultry set to be killed.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said 144 cases of bird flu had been confirmed in the UK since October.

All cases are the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strain, and it takes the total since October 2021 to 264.

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Now, one of the latest on that list is a site near Ross-on-Wye, and all poultry at the site will be humanely culled, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

The Government department gave a map reference where the three-kilometre protection zone and 10-kilometre surveillance zone centre around.

And it appears to be at a farm north of Brick End, near the river Wye.

The two zones, which extend as far as a 10-kilometre radius of the site, are to prevent the flu from spreading.

The 10-kilometre control zones mean 314.2 square kilometres of Herefordshire, as well as across the border into Gloucestershire, must follow certain rules surrounding poultry.

Announcing the new measures, Defra said: "All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled."

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The NHS said the strain does not infect people easily and is not usually spread from human to human.

But several people have been infected around the world, leading to a number of deaths,

The two zones have rules which will affect the movement of birds and eggs, the removal of litter, manure and slurry, and other biosecurity measures.

The measures came into force at 7.30pm on Tuesday after being approved by the Secretary of State.