Sheep tested over new FMD fears

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A 1.8-mile (3km) temporary control zone has been put in place around premises near Rye as a precautionary measure after sheep showed possible signs of the disease.

A Defra spokesman said laboratory tests were under way to determine whether the disease has spread but there is no timetable for receiving the results.

He said: "Animal keepers are urged to remain vigilant for disease, check their animals twice a day and report any suspicions immediately."

If confirmed, it would be the first confirmed case of foot-and-mouth outside Surrey since the summer.

The disease has been identified at eight farms in Surrey since August 3. The disease's risk area covers Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, according to Defra.

England's farming community is also reeling from bluetongue disease, although restrictions put in place to prevent its spread were eased on Monday despite the virus spreading to sheep.

Bluetongue, which has spread across the continent during the past year, emerged in the UK last month when a cow on a farm near Ipswich, Suffolk, was found to have contracted it.

Since then, the virus has migrated into Essex, and more than 30 cattle herds have been affected.

Experts believe it was carried into England by midges blown across the sea from the European coast.