BUTCHERS' shops are repeatedly breaching food safety legislation introduced five years ago in the wake of the world's worst e-coli food poisoning outbreak.

Inspection reports reveal continuing failures such as unacceptable separation procedures for raw meat and ready-to-eat foods.

This was a key cross-contamination element of the outbreak in Wishaw in 1996 that killed 21 people and infected more than 400.

In South Lanarkshire, more than 30 of the 61 butchers have had breaches recorded since licensing of shops was introduced in October 2000.

Glasgow said the number of shops given warnings had fallen from 91 to eight.

The reports, released to The Herald under freedom of information laws, also show unacceptable food hygiene training remains a common breach.

Failures found in shops ranged from lack of staff training and absence of f ly screens to insufficient defrosting, damaged refrigerators and shelves, and dirty windows.

Failures in previous years have included insect and rodent infestations, and dirty freezers, walls, floors and shelves.

Environmental health officers insisted yesterday that many breaches were "of a technical nature, and not a risk to public health".

Licensing is to be abandoned in favour of new EU regulations on January 1 next year.

It is claimed butchers will still require to meet the same standards, without the licensing requirement.

The EU regulations will for the first time require all basic food businesses - including hotels, restaurants, pubs, and takeaways - to have a "hazard analysis control point" system in place.

It includes seven food safety principles but excludes licensing of any business, including butchers' shops.

If Britain wants to retain butchers' licensing, new legislation will have to be introduced.

The FSA is consulting on the issue.

Arguments for continued licensing include the incentive to improve standards, with powers to suspend or withdraw licences.

Professor Hugh Pennington, a diseases specialist who was chairman of an expert group on the e-coli outbreak, believes there will be no "backward slide" should licensing be abandoned.

He said: "There has been significant progress, and we do not have same number of outbreaks as five or 10 years ago.

"I am not concerned that by ending licensing we will return to the bad old days.

"It was always a temporary measure until more stringent regulations came in.

"If the EU regulations work as expected, they will be just as rigorous, albeit without licensing. But we cannot be complacent, " he added.