David Morgan, NFU livestock officer, who farms just inside an infected area at Peterchurch, said he had been told at Worcester that the infected area status would last at least a month. The problem stemmed from the Welsh border and once the status there was reduced, Herefordshire would go back to an at-risk area.

"The Government wanted no movement at all which is ridiculous," he said. The regulations were due to be phased in during the month but they came in on Monday without warning, he said. Farmers were facing a real problem, particularly with sheep which had to be blood-tested before being moved and this took time.

Last spring farmers could understand the disease restrictions but now with a huge movement of breeding stock necessary and the onset of winter, it was a rather different matter. The NFU had been saying that the welfare problem this winter would be far greater than last spring and it looked as if it would be so, he added.