A LOCAL tip is on standby to take carcasses from the foot and mouth cull.

Dead sheep and pigs could start arriving at the former quarry off Pilsworth Road, Bury at just a couple of hours notice, Viridor Waste Management confirmed this week.

The plan has outraged local farmers who say it is madness to introduce potentially infected dead animals into a disease-free area.

Animals to be dumped at Pilsworth would come from the Government's pre-emptive culling programme, designed to limit the spread of foot and mouth.

But while landfill bosses were assured by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) that the risk from live virus was negligible, farmers reacted angrily to the decision to dump carcasses on their doorsteps.

Simister farmer Mr John Warhurst, of Mellow Dew Farm, said: "We are fuming. Why risk bringing infection to a clean area?" Mr Jim Booker, who lives and works just a stone's throw away from the Pilsworth landfill site at Captain's Farm, said: "If the animals are part of the preventative cull then there is no guarantee they are not infected. To bring vehicles, animals and people out of an infected area and into a clean area is madness.

"They can disinfect and control things as much as they like but it only needs one job to be less than 100 per cent and we finish up with an infection. Humans are humans after all. The procedure is not foolproof."

A spokesman for Viridor, Dan Cooke, explained that Pilsworth had been identified as a suitable site for carcasses because of its "high operational standards and high degrees of control".

He said the site could receive two types of material: 100 per cent clean livestock from abbatoirs as part of the welfare cull; carcasses slaughtered as part of the pre-emptive or 'firebreak' cull from areas surrounding infected land.

Mr Cooke said the animals killed in the pre-emptive cull were slaughtered regardless of whether they were clean or not, and said the animals killed out in the field would not necessarily have been certified disease-free.

But he added that strict controls would be in operation over the transport and disposal of any carcasses delivered to Pilsworth.

Pilsworth is one of seven out of 16 Viridor landfill sites to be put on the list of suitable recipients which includes 31 potential burial grounds nationwide. Three Viridor sites in Devon, Wiltshire and Derbyshire have been receiving lorry loads of carcasses since last Friday (March 30).

Mr Cooke added: "We have responded to a request by the Government to help improve the efficiency in bringing the foot and mouth epidemic under control. We recognise there are concerns but assure you that things will be dealt with strictly within the protocol to ensure there is no significant risk to the community."

Bury Council officers will monitor events at the site, and will be informed if any carcasses are moved there.

Heywood MP Jim Dobbin, a microbiologist, stepped in after being contacted by the National Farmers Union. He said: "I had a robust meeting with environment minister Michael Meacher on Wednesday evening (April 3) to ask him to remove Pilsworth from the list. There are a number of dairy farms nearby and the fear is that there could be a leakage into the area's water supply."