AN EAST Lancashire consultant microbiologist has condemned rogue farmers who evade controls against the spread of mad cow disease by forging certificates and bogus cattle tags.

But Dr Stephen Dealler blames the scandal on a decrease in the amount paid to farmers with infected herds.

He wants the matter to be put into the hands of the Department for Health rather than remain with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Burnley-based Dr Dealler said: "Before the change in 1994 the compensation paid to farmers provided a financial incentive to report all cases.''

He said his research had shown that only about 40 per cent of cases were reaching the government statistics.

Farmers were being assured there was no risk to anyone from BSE, that the numbers were going down and that there was no need to worry about it.

He said they need to be properly informed that there was a potential risk from BSE and that they were not just dealing with a bunch of fools making up regulations which were of no use.

Dr Dealler said while he had sympathy for the farmers, he could not condone the forging of certificates and use of bogus ear tags.

Certificates showing that an animal had come from a herd free from bovine spongiform encephalogy were introduced two years ago to prevent a ban on British beef imports by France and Germany. Possession of a certificate adds £100 to an animal's value.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.