Bernard Matthews took 48 hours to report turkey deaths

The birds were being placed in crates, then loaded by forklift truck into mobile gas chambers.

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• VIDEO: Dramatic scenes from the Bernard Matthews turkey farm

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• 'Low risk to humans from bird flu'

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• Emergency measures put in place

• Villagers tell of shock at outbreak

Villagers in the picturesque village of Holton watched as the site was taped off by police who closed roads and enforced a three kilometre protection zone and a 10 kilometre surveillance zone to keep poultry away from any wild birds.

And one, Lillian Foreman, 43, voiced the fears of many of them by saying: "If turkeys started dying on the Tuesday why weren't the authorities notified then? They should have been notified sooner. I am worried for people who work at the factory. What will happen to them?"

Meanwhile the bodies of many of the 2,617 birds killed in the outbreak could be seen being shovelled into an open-topped container. They were then covered with a tarpaulin and taken away for incineration. Tests carried out by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the EC yesterday confirmed it was the H5N1 strain which killed the birds - the same strain which has led to the death of 164 people worldwide since 2003.

The first warning at the Bernard Matthews farm came last Tuesday when 55 turkey chicks died and 16 had to be culled because they were ill. The birds represented one per cent of the 7,000 birds under eight weeks old in the shed.

A further 186 died the following day. But it was on Thursday that the death rate escalated dramatically with 860 more fatalities, and a farm manager reported it to Defra.

Vets visited the farm and it was sealed off immediately while urgent tests began with samples of the dead birds - all under eight weeks old - being examined at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey.

Another 1,500 birds died the next day.

A spokesman for Bernard Matthews said: "It was apparent from the bird figures on Wednesday that a number of birds were unwell with mortality above normal. The vet was asked to investigate.

"The results were available late Thursday afternoon and could not show a cause for the mortality. Defra was informed that Bernard Matthews might have a notifiable disease in accordance with normal industry procedures.

"We are working closely with Defra and other industry bodies to contain the infection.

"The company meets and in many cases far exceeds Defra's biosecurity standards for combating avian flu."

Sir Bernard Matthews himself, who lives in an elegant mansion near one of his processing plants in Norwich, refused to come to the door.

Production at the factory is thought to have stopped on Friday.

Turkeys and other poultry have been kept on the site since 1969. The farm and adjacent factory employs around 1,000 people, mainly migrant workers - many of them Portuguese - who are bussed to work from the nearby towns of Beccles, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. Yesterday around two dozen of them - those who worked in the shed where the flock was infected - were being inoculated at a nearby surgery.

One worker who did not want to be named said: "We are all really worried about the consequences of this.

"Most of the people killed by bird flu in Asia had come into contact with infected birds.

"People here are naturally worried about getting ill. Anyone who catches a cold or gets a runny nose will be worried they could be going down with it."

Defra is working on the basis that a wild bird, infected with the disease, could have infiltrated the shed, and has warned anyone keeping poultry to be extra vigilant.

It has revoked the national general licence on bird events and shows and temporarily banned all pigeon racing.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the bird flu outbreak, Environment Secretary David Miliband cancelled a planned trip to Cumbria to visit rural communities with the Prince of Wales.

A Defra spokeswoman said Mr Miliband wanted to stay in London to keep informed of the situation. She said: "Unfortunately due to the outbreak of avian influenza in Suffolk the Secretary of State is unable to attend tomorrow's visit.

"He wishes to remain in London where he can be kept informed of progress.

"It is clearly very disappointing that he has missed this opportunity to see rural communities in Cumbria."