Bacup petting farm closed down over e-coli claims (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Bacup petting farm closed down over e-coli claims
4:01pm Saturday 30th June 2012 in News
By Peter Magill, Chief reporter
A PETTING farm in East Lancashire has been closed down by council bosses over claims of an E-Coli risk.
Animal Quackers in Bacup has become the first such farm in the UK to be shut on public health grounds.
But Terry Bork, who runs the Huttock Top Farm venture, insists he is being victimised and is fighting to reopen the venue early next week.
The move is the latest in a long-running battle between Rossendale Council and Mr Bork.
Under the closure order, granted by Reedley magistrates on Thursday under the Health and Social Care Act, Animal Quackers must not operate for 28 days, amid concerns over sanitation and walkways at the farm.
An inspection was carried out by town hall environmental health staff last weekend at the Newchurch Old Road premises but the saga has been ongoing for more than six months.
Former kitchen fitter Mr Bork, 50, said: “They are saying people are being put at risk but it is in the same state as when they did their first investigation and they brought their own children out to the farm.”
He says he will be asking his Waterfoot-based solicitor Gareth Jones to apply for the order to be lifted on Monday.
Mr Bork added: “Ninety per cent of the work has been done we are just waiting for paint to dry now. It’s about putting washing stations in and making sure the walkways have straw and putting a fence around the mucking area.”
An online petition containing 725 signatures, opposing the council’s stance, has been compiled, featuring a number of parents who have held chidren’s parties there.
Mr Bork said he was angry that the order has resulted in the cancellation of two such parties, leaving around 40 youngsters disappointed.
But council bosses are adamant they were left with no choice after repeated failures to comply with health and safety advice.
Rebecca Lawlor, the council’s health and housing manager, said: “The council has been working very hard to persuade the operators of the business and owners of the premises to make the necessary improvements to Animal Quackers to make it a safe environment for visitors.
“We have given them more than enough opportunity to undertake the work. In its current state, the farm poses a significant risk to public health and puts visitors at risk of contracting illnesses which can have a long-term effect upon the health of people such as E-Coli and potential kidney failure.”
E-Coli can cause diarrhoea , fever and vomiting among adults but can result in potential kidney failure for young victims.
Coun Helen Jackson, housing and environment health cabinet member, said: “The council has a duty to protect the public.
“Unfortunately failing to act or not addressing the severity of the problem can lead to fatalities and we can’t allow that to happen.
“We’ve tried a whole host of actions from meetings and letters to more formal enforcement measures but still the owners have made little effort to address these issues.
“This has left the council no other alternative but to seek a formal closure of Animal Quackers until it can be operated in a safe and healthy manner.”
Comments are closed on this article.
Comments (19)
4:44pm Sat 30 Jun 12
ste.g says...
says it all then
5:27pm Sat 30 Jun 12
Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...
5:39pm Sat 30 Jun 12
Malthus says...
5:47pm Sat 30 Jun 12
RUinsane says...
8:44pm Sat 30 Jun 12
Paul The Octopus Lives! says...
I went into Accrington Police Station last week with a bit of a cough. I was immediately arrested, put in a cell for four hours and then charged.
Last time I moan about feeling a little hoarse.
8:24am Sun 1 Jul 12
woolywords says...
lots of puns!
8:53am Sun 1 Jul 12
spendmymoneywisely says...
It would be interesting to note if the EH people actually gave any help and advice or whether it just took a punitive approach. This is yet another example of the small businessman struggling to make his contribution to local people & the local economy in the face of great odds.
Surely the Council inspected the farm when it first opened so what has gone wrong?. Did the Council offer any grants or loans to help him upgrade the site?. It could be a useful tourist attraction but is never mentioned in official tourism literature - why?. The more questions one asks the more one feels that there is an agenda.
9:04am Sun 1 Jul 12
woolywords says...
Eating soil, playing with worms, drinking from the garden pond and swallowing water in the swimming pool is a part of growing up. If we continue at this rate, wrapping children is so much cotton wool, feeding them antibiotics for the slightest sniffle, how will they fare in the World?
Our forebears lived through some really terrible conditions, yet managed to live long enough to create children. I know, am one of them.
There is a lot to be said for being a boy, with our natural aversion to soap and water. It's what we do, being mucky.
If it wasn't for us boys being so, there would be no children.
These petting farms expose children to things that they just don't get in schools nowadays, like ticks, fleas and especially, ringworm. I am willing to bet my life savings that, none of those imposing these rules, have ever suffered the head-shaving and scalp painting with Gentian Violet that my generation did. And look how I turned out!
And if you are in school right now, doing something biology based; like invent a pill for badgers, before all these idiots kill them all off.
To misquote Marie Annoinette, let them eat cack, if the school dinners won't kill them off.
9:33am Sun 1 Jul 12
woolywords says...
The thing is, when you meet someone from the Council, do this..
Wash your hands before..
Wash them afterwards..
Ensure that you count you fingers, both before and afterwards.
One cannot help but think, in spite of the synonyms section Rogets Thesaurus to the contrary, the words Council and corruption should be linked.
I question your use of the term of agenda in this context, far better to imply, self serving agenda, which would garner some appreciation.
Some child has got a case of thruppenny bits, shortly after visiting a petting farm, so what? It's not the farm nor animals fault, rather the fact that someone wants a bit of compo.
Tell you what, anyone that has had a Gypsy tummy after a Ruby Murray or even kebab, phone the EH and get them sorted out. Then let's see how they get on.
In the US they call it a class action, I propose a new term, a splatter action. Claim papers, to be signed in black biro. Claims signed with something brown and runny, will not be entered into.
10:11am Sun 1 Jul 12
woolywords says...
Have you asked these same people that seek to enforce the stringent conditions upon you about the local bars in your area, where petting also takes place?
Do they, in fact, test the wet pads in the banks/post offices or counting houses, for cross-contamination between the human species or it just that, to dignify their existence, they opt for the easy option, the poor dumb animals?
Are they aware that, E-coli, in it's many forms, exists within the human digestive tract and is easily transferable between species? So easy to point to the noble animal, as it's source, when it may have contracted it, from a petting human.
Are they aware that, both cats and dogs are prone to lick their own anus, to keep it clean, then lick your face, a sign of friendship, by sharing that good health? How many homes with cats and dogs have they raided recently?
The interchange of bacterium and virus, not virii, is that thing that makes us so unique amongst lifeforms on this planet, we survive and thrive because of it. The very stuff that we take for granted are stuffed with it, bread, cheese and beer or wine. We used to drink beer because the water was not good.
Someone, somewhere, needs a serious reality check before they endanger the human species.
Germs are good, over protectionism, for the justification of your job, is not.
I move, that we do away these psuedo-scientists, do I have a second?
10:26am Sun 1 Jul 12
woolywords says...
When was the last time that your people tested the playgrounds within your area, all of which are public areas. None of which have the requirement that you intend to impose upon this individual.
Helen, you have your name in the papers, and it is so noted, your electorate will be informed, come election time, for frivolous abuse of position.
Learn this phrase, what is sauce for the goose, is also sauce for the gander.
One cannot, in good conscience, impose upon a private individual, that, which is within your remit wholly ignored. To do so, is frankly, bringing your office into disrepute and worthy of contempt.
10:54am Sun 1 Jul 12
spendmymoneywisely says...
3:07pm Sun 1 Jul 12
pdb951 says...
8:19pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...
11:49pm Sun 1 Jul 12
gazzandste says...
11:54pm Sun 1 Jul 12
XfarmgirlX says...
4:19pm Mon 2 Jul 12
HUSH, The UK E.coli Support Group says...
Firstly, Helen Jackson and her team could only be accused of a "frivolous abuse of position" if they ignored any shortcomings regarding visitor safety to the farm and should be applauded for the stance they have taken. If things aren't right then they should be fixed before we allow children and other visitors to go there.
A mild case of infection does not simply result in the "thruppenny bits", but can be an extremely painful and distressing condition that lasts several days. If identified that child would be excluded from school/childcare until 2 consecutive negative results were obtained. This can take weeks - a nightmare for working parents!
A more severe infection can lead to Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) where kidney failure is the main symptom and there is no cure. The sufferers are treated with dialysis, plasma exchange and blood transfusions until they either die or recover (sometimes with ongoing health problems).
Yes, there are many different strains of the E.coli and they're not all harmful to humans but those that are (O157 included) have mutated over the years and the toxins they release are life-threatening. Indeed O157 only came to light in the early 1980's.
Some of you may remember the E.coli outbreak at Godstone Farm in 2009 when 93 people became infected, of whom 76 (82%) were under 10 years of age. 27 were admitted to hospital and 17 (all children) developed HUS. I don't think anyone involved in the Godstone outbreak will back any of the comments above. Indeed, this resulted in an independent investigation of the practices at open farms and steps were taken to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.
11:01am Tue 3 Jul 12
Sanfield says...
5:48pm Tue 3 Jul 12
bammy1971 says...