Compensation plea over FMD outbreak

The BBC said official studies - due to be published on Friday - had found a damaged pipe at the Pirbright site contained the virus, which could have spread to nearby farms by workmen after being brought to the surface by flood water.

According to the Guardian, the report into the outbreak near Guildford, Surrey, will suggest workers renovating the laboratories may have spread foot and mouth on their car tyres.

The studies also point to the possibility drainage pipes from the site may also have allowed the virus to leak, the paper claimed.

In the wake of the media reports, Neil Parish, Tory chairman of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, said farmers deserved to be compensated by whoever was responsible for the outbreak.

"It seems the burden of responsibility is now squarely on the Pirbright facility. Any lapse in biosecurity measures at the site should never have been allowed to happen following the outbreak in 2001. This situation is simply unacceptable," he said.

"Defra's response to the outbreak prevented the disease from spreading but massive disruption and losses were caused to the rural economy and farmers deserve to be recompensed by whoever was responsible."

National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall said lawyers for the NFU would be examining the report when it was published to see if there was a case for compensating farmers hit by the outbreak.

He also said he had spoken to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to seek assurances measures would be put in place to prevent such an incident happening again.

The Environment Department would not confirm whether the reports on the official findings were accurate. But interim findings by the Health and Safety Executive said release by human movement was a "real possibility" and that a number of "biosecurity issues" had arisen in relation to the drainage system at Pirbright.