A QUARRY at Pilsworth, Bury, has been placed on stand-by as a burial site to receive "non-infected" animal carcasses during the Foot and Mouth crisis.

Staff at the quarry, which is run by Viridor Waste Management, could be given just a couple of hours' notice of a delivery of dead cows and sheep slaughtered as part of the Government's pre-emptive cull programme.

But while landfill bosses have been assured by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that the risk from live virus is negligible, local farmers have reacted angrily to the decision to dump on their doorsteps.

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".

But Jim Booker, of nearby Captain's Farm, warned: "If the animals are part of the preventative cull then there is no guarantee they are not infected". The site could receive two types of material; 100 per cent clean livestock from abbatoirs as part of the welfare cull and carcasses slaughtered as part of the pre-emptive or 'firebreak' cull from areas surrounding infected land.

These animals are slaughtered regardless of whether they are clean or not.

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."

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."

Andrew Rothwell of the National Farmers Union said they would be fighting the decision and appealing to the minister for the environment, Michael Meacher, to intervene and get Pilsworth eradicated from the list.