Programme for the Devon Foot & Mouth Inquiry

Presentation by Devon County Council in association with

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Monday 08/10/2001
- 10:30 Inquiry Opened - introduction and photos
  - Recorded view
- 10:35 National Farmers' Union - David Hill
  - Video recording (duration: 1:26) - "MAFF were playing catch-up from day one', claimed Mr Hill
  - Video recording (duration: 1:05) - 'With hindsight, the uncontrolled movement and "mix and match" of animals was totally ill-advised.'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:27) - The practice of moving sheep within the first few days of the outbreak was 'completely ridiculous', said Mr Hill.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:28) - Mr Hill described the command and control from Government as 'abysmal'.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:20) - One of the main recommendations following the 1960s FMD outbreak was that the Army should be called in from day one. When was the Army called in on this occasion and who was in charge in Devon?
  - Video recording (duration: 4:18) - The NFU needs an agreed position on vaccination before they can make a decision as to its efficacy. With this agreed position, they'd be happy to put the matter to their members' vote.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:47) - The lack of communication between MAFF and the farming industry was a major problem.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:45) - The NFU doesn't see diversification as the 'panacea for the ills of the industry.'
  - Video recording (duration: 2:10) - 'The future of farming is to encourage members to "go further down the food chain" and take ownership of their products beyond the farm gate.'
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 12:05 Countryside Agency - Jeremy Worth
  - Recorded view
- 12:30 Quicke's Cheese - Mary Quicke
  - Recorded view
- 13:00 Lunch break
- 14:00 CLA - Tim Brooks
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 14:35 S.W. Regional Development Agency - Simon Hodgson
  - Recorded view
- 15:00 Mark Tomlinson (re Ash Moor)
  - Video recording (duration: 2:47) - An MOD representative arrived for a discussion about 'road works' one morning, having phoned the night before. MAFF's controversial plan was laid before the Tomlinsons.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:39) - The Tomlinson children were also traumatised by the episode from the start. No apology was forthcoming: '...we wondered around in shock!'
  - Video recording (duration: 2:46) - Work on the "road works" was halted but the future remained uncertain. Now, 'it's like the sword of Damocles hanging over us', said Mr Tomlinson.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:44) - 'This is not about compensation; we don't want that', said Mr Tomlinson. He went on to say that he and his family wanted an apology first, followed by an undertaking to return everything to its original state as quickly as possible.
  - Recorded view
- 15:30 Brian Aldridge (re Ash Moor) - with Jo Skinner, John Pratt and Ron Dawson
  - Video recording (duration: 1:24) - Brian Aldridge described Ash Moor as 'an experiment in the liquefaction of animal carcasses'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:04) - Mr Dawson added that there wasn't a technical report that he'd read that hadn't been 'absolutely scathing' about Ash Moor. MAFF admitted that no environmental impact study had been carried out.
  - Recorded view
- 16:00 Colin Latham & John Martin with Edward Martin and David May (farmers)
  - Video recording (duration: 2:53) - Mr Latham told how MAFF arranged to cull a small number of his sheep that, they claimed, were contiguous to an infected area (although, in fact these were barely separated from the rest of his stock). Symptoms of FMD were found when these sheep were eventually culled, some twelve days later. As a consequence, all of Mr Latham's animals were culled. Mr Latham says that the loss of all his stock was due to MAFF's delay in culling.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:20) - 'Some mistakes were made' said Mr May. 'There were not rendering facilities available. They were too slow to build pyre sites'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:39) - 'When they (MAFF) lit the fire,' Mr Martin claimed, 'there were pieces of animal drifting through the farm from two miles away!'
  - Recorded view
- 16:50 Inquiry closed for the day
Tuesday 09/10/2001
- 10:30 Clinton Devon Estates - John Varley, Estates Director, with John Bain and John Varley
  - Video recording (duration: 1:35) - John Varley (Estates Director for Clinton Devon Estates) said that in the early stages of the outbreak, they felt that 'we needed somebody to take a grip on the situation and it was clear that there was far more that could have been done at the local level...'.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:50) - Mr Varley explained that when the military were deployed in Devon, it was in the form of an RMP Major, without the logistics, intelligence and communications infrastructure of the brigade HQ available in Cumbria.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:23) - After making enquiries, Mr Varley and his team found that there seemed to be no brigade available for these purposes in the Westcountry. There were brigades available in Cumbria, however. In Devon, though, available Royal Navy and Royal Marines resources could have been used instead.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:56) - Mr Varley spoke of 'inter-service rivalry'. He felt strongly that in such a situation, or in the future, all the resources available should be used and their personnel should undergo training if necessary.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:44) - The Government, Mr Varley claimed, showed a 'lack of understanding of the impact on the ground'. There was a 'lack of effective feedback' to ministers, he explained.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:04) - The closure and subsequent re-opening of the public rights of way in Devon, which involved many local stakeholders and landowners, was managed particularly well.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:58) - It was said that the County Council should have more power to take action unilaterally in emergency situations.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:04) - Devon Clinton Estates are aware, said Mr Varley, of their chance to be a 'test bed' for future development. He described them as a 'mini rural economy'.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 11:40 National Trust - Alex Raeder, Senior Land Agent
  - Video recording (duration: 2:21) - Mr Raeder claimed that there was 'considerable ignorance' over how the disease was spread. He pointed out that, with hindsight, it became clearer that visitors weren't a significant factor in the spread of FMD and therefore, some parts of the countryside had been closed unnecessarily.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:36) - 'Although this (land closure) was understandable in the atmosphere of caution, perhaps it would have been better to apply a risk assessment model...'.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 12:15 Taste of the West - Diane Lethbridge
  - Video recording (duration: 2:30) - The marketing of produce from the Southwest is hampered, said Diane Lethbridge, by the region's having only 'a fraction of the budgets of other areas such as Wales and Scotland'.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 12:40 Devon County Council Economy & Europe Unit - Colin Lomax, Acting Head of Economic Development
  - Video recording (duration: 1:42) - Mr Lomax explained that there had been 'no direct impact' on the unemployment figures over the summer but he suspected that we'll 'have problems over the winter'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:46) - Mr Lomax stressed the importance of forecasting bodies speaking with 'one voice'. He thought it very, very important indeed that his unit have an agreement with the RDA on forecasting models.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:54) - 'It looks very bad to the public if we are quoting different figures, even if they are forecasts', stated Mr Lomax.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 13:00 Lunch break
- 14:00 John Fowler Holidays - John Fowler (Chairman)
  - Video recording (duration: 2:20) - 'The public got the idea that Devon and Cornwall were closed', said Mr. Fowler.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:08) - 'As far as the media were concerned', said Mr Fowler, 'it was essential to get the story over quickly and it was not done!'
  - Recorded view
- 14:30 South Devon Tourism Association - Carol Hutchings, Chairman
  - Video recording (duration: 2:30) - Carol Hutchings said that with the national park discouraging unnecessary travel, she hardly saw a visitor from the end of February. 'For a long time', she said,'there was a dreadful air of panic'.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:54) - 'Right at the beginning, our first concern was the lack of information: there was nowhere to go!' said Carol Hutchings, SDTA.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:33) - '...The publicity was very bad and it was badly handled', said Carol Hutchings. 'Bad news sells newspapers...', she added, '...there were very negative images and there wasn't a positive image'.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:00) - Carol Hutchings said that most SDTA members would survive but would be carrying more debt through this winter.
  - Recorded view
- 15:05 Devon County Council Public Rights of Way Unit - David Andrew, Assistant County Environment Director
  - Recorded view
- 15:40 South West Tourism - Malcolm Bell, Chief Executive
  - Video recording (duration: 1:51) - Mr Bell (Chief Executive) told the Inquiry that most of his marketing funds had been exhausted in promoting the coastal areas of Devon - a damage limitation exercise which had worked.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:01) - Mr Bell feared that financial support for tourism businesses wouldn't be forthcoming because of the view that if an operator went bust, that business would be sold to a ready buyer.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:36) - Mr Bell worried that FMD might become 'yesterday's problem' whilst the challenge for some businesses is to 'survive until Easter'. It was a sad observation, he thought, that Devon might actually benefit from the fears created by recent terrorist attacks and the action in Afghanistan.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:12) - Mr Bell said that images of 'barbaric killing' and 'primeval disposal' of carcasses had been transmitted around the world.
  - Recorded view
- 16:15 Stags Auctioneers & Estate Agents - Richard Pringle
  - Recorded view
- 16:50 Inquiry closed for the day
Wednesday 10/10/2001
- 10:30 Black Torrington Church of England Primary School - Mark Raven (headmaster)
  - Video recording (duration: 0:43) - Mr Mark Raven (Headteacher) found most disappointing the lack of direction and advice from both central Government and the local education authority.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:07) - Mr Raven discussed matters with fellow headteachers and the Governors. The decision was reached to close the school.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:27) - Mr Raven was particularly concerned about being unable to secure a supply of disinfectant.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:47) - Mr. Raven spoke of the vague advice he received from MAFF when he requested it. The information on the Government Web site wasn't specific enough for Mr. Raven's situation.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:40) - Mr. Raven told how everyone felt the pressure of coping with the situation.
  - Video recording (duration: 3:20) - When you can see death in the fields and smell it in the air, 'it's difficult to deal with', said Mr Raven, explaining how the children coped with the experience.
  - Recorded view
- 11:00 YFC - Mark Goodman (County Organiser) and Les Hayward of the Devon Federation of Young Farmers Clubs
  - Video recording (duration: 1:11) - Those non-farming members of the YFC not affected by FMD directly felt sympathy for those who were, Mr Goodman (County Organiser) explained.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:24) - Mr Goodman said that he felt many young farmers would have to rethink their choice of career, as the farming life they'd grown up with was placed in jeopardy.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:29) - Mr Goodman described farming as the bedrock of employment in rural areas. He explained that young people are now faced with a struggle to find jobs in these areas and a 'real struggle' to find homes.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:12) - 'Many small farms will now struggle and it will be a case of "survival of the fittest" said Mr Les Hayward, as he outlined the future of farming.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:07) - Mr Hayward considered the social impact that lack of career choice is having on rural communities and said that FMD might be the catalyst that makes people consider moving away.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:17) - The Federation is now facing problems of its own through a loss of earnings during the summer, Mr Goodman explained.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:28) - Mr Goodman talked of the loss of keen volunteers for the YFCs. 'Understandably', he said, 'volunteers now have to think about themselves first and foremost, and they are irreplaceable.
  - Recorded view
- 11:40 Devon Association of Parish Councils - Barbara Thomas, Vice Chairman
  - Video recording (duration: 1:40) - 'Parish councils must be consulted in the early stages of any emergency', said Mrs Thomas. 'We're left to deal with people's fears and the lack of information.'
  - Video recording (duration: 1:52) - Mrs Thomas admitted that parish council emergency plans had been left on the 'back shelf'. Refreshing them needed to be 'top of the agenda'.
  - Recorded view
- 12:05 Revd. Paul Fitzpatrick - Curate, Northmoor Team Ministry
  - Video recording (duration: 1:07) - Rev Paul Fitzpatrick said 'the pain and fear in our community was palpable. You could feel it coming over the phone.'
  - Video recording (duration: 1:19) - 'Very often, it would happen at night when farmers went out for a look around and a last check on the livestock!'
  - Video recording (duration: 1:03) - 'I didn't actually press the "panic button" immediately and a couple of phone calls would actually find them but it was surprising how many times that happened', said Rev Fitzpatrick.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:07) - 'There were times when I was very, very worried about people, very worried indeed.'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:37) - Rev Fitzpatrick praised the support that he and the wider community had received from the Bishop of Exeter and other senior clergy.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:50) - 'There's a need for faces to be known and trusted', said 'Rev Fitzpatrick. '...Strangers don't work well in the countryside'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:04) - 'There's a lot of isolation out there - an awful lot!' said Rev Fitzpatrick, talking about the need for counselling services.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:14) - As a landowner, Rev Fitzpatrick had had that rural deprivation existed - nor did his family (in London) understand the full impact of FMD on these people's lives. Is this echoed in the rest of the UK, he wondered.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:01) - 'The crisis has hurt people very deeply and touched their lives in a way I haven't seen', said ' Rev Fitzpatrick.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 12:40 Exmoor National Park - Dr. Nigel Stone, National Park Officer
  - Recorded view
- 13:05 Lunch break
- 14:00 Women's Institute - Tania Haycocks, Federation Chairman and Margaret Noon, Chairman of the Organisation sub-committee - Devon Federation of Women's Institutes
  - Recorded view
- 14:30 Farm Crisis Network - Brian Warren, Stephen Dennis and Peter Clarke
  - Video recording (duration: 1:24) - Unless farmers can be supplied with fodder, welfare problems (animal and human) of 'disaster' proportions will result.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 15:15 North & East Devon Health Authority - Dr. Mike Owen, Director of Public Health
  - Video recording (duration: 2:13) - Dr Mike Owen told of the extra mental health services that had been provided through the Farmer's Advice Support Team. This bespoke service would continue until the end of the year.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:33) - 'Long term unemployment is a significant danger to ill health!'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:57) - Dr Mike Owen confirmed that workers in the area affected by FMD would be likely to suffer from depression.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:45) - Dr Owen explained that traditionally, farmers and other rural workers aren't likely to access mental health services.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:33) - Evidence from the FSA indicates that the likelihood of ill affects from dioxins (from pyres) is very small.
  - Recorded view
- 15:35 Jim Pile (farmer) - Kentisbury, near Barnstaple
  - Recorded view
- 15:50 Devon & Cornwall Constabulary - Sir John Evans (Chief Constable) and Superintendant Mike Sarsfield
  - Video recording (duration: 1:52) - Sir John Evans said that 'command and control is absolutely essential'. He added that unlike most other emergency situations, when the police work closely with councils and other local agencies, MAFF (together with the Army, later) was the lead agency.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:40) - 'It didn't look like the Foot and Mouth Emergency plans had been developed by central Government since the last outbreak' (in 1967).
  - Video recording (duration: 0:56) - Sir John suggested that the military was deployed too late and didn't, then, perform the role he'd expected.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:05) - Sir John Evans spoke of the practicalities of leading command and control from the start in this instance, comparing it with the situation during the 1967 outbreak.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:45) - Whoever takes the lead in any future outbreaks needs to be better at developing contingency plans and exercising them where they're likely to be used.
  - Recorded view
- 16:30 Inquiry closed for the day
Thursday 11/10/2001
- 10:30 Devon County Council Communications & Information - Hilary Allison, Peter Doyle and Brian Nute
  - Video recording (duration: 2:59) - Peter Doyle, Head of Media and Public Relations for Devon County Council, described how offers of assistance to MAFF in handling communications were ignored. 'This was', he reflected, 'symptomatic of a system that was totally overwhelmed'.
  - Recorded view
- 11:10 GWR Radio PLC - Graham Gilbert
  - Recorded view
  - Video recording (duration: 1:04) - Graham Gilbert, Managing Director of Great Western Radio Group, accused MAFF representatives of being 'unresponsive, curt, unwilling and evasive'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:12) - Information from MAFF was haphazard, often vague or contradictory, or simply just 'refused'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:29) - 'It's essential that the lead agency, whoever that might be, plays the role of lead agency. This needs planning and forethought and must include communications with the public, using all available media.'
  - Video recording (duration: 4:03) - Mr Gilbert criticised the Regional Development Agency and South West Tourism for their decision not to co-fund a heavily subsidised and targeted radio advertising campaign with the message 'Devon is Open!'
- 11:40 Carlton T.V. - Chris Foreman
  - Recorded view
  - Video recording (duration: 1:13) - Chris Foreman, Senior Output Editor for Carlton TV, reflected that 'television is in the business of pictures'. He said that burning pyres were a legitimate news event.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:31) - 'I think the business of being a journalist is about being impartial and it's about just trying to tell a story...'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:15) - Mr Foreman explained that Carlton TV tries to strike a balance between showing things as they really are and 'doing something gratuitous'.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:15) - 'Editorial decisions have to be taken - and we accept that we won't be popular all the time.'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:41) - 'Editorial decisions have to be taken - and we don't pretend to get it right all the time.'
  - Video recording (duration: 1:01) - 'Most of the time, we couldn't carry the things (stories) we wanted to carry because there wasn't anyone to talk to.'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:54) - 'I was quite surprised that there wasn't a game plan in place!'
- 12:05 Western Morning News - Carol Trewin
  - Recorded view
- 12:40 Devon County Council Emergency Planning Service - Richard Hill
  - Recorded view
- 13:10 Lunch break
- 14:00 Kennerleigh Parish Council - Ken Lancaster and Alan Perryman
  - Video recording (duration: 2:10) - Ken Lancaster, of Kennerleigh Parish Meeting, described the sense of "siege" that he had felt. All social activity in the village had stopped.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:50) - Mr Lancaster said that many farmers in the parish had felt that there should have been some sort of local co-ordinator.
  - Recorded view
- 14:30 Citizens Advice Bureaux - Ms. Sue Bizley
  - Recorded view
- 15:00 Knowstone Parish Council - William Norman, David Morgans and Kenneth Dykes
  - Video recording (duration: 4:28) - William Norman, from Knowstone Parish Council, described the events in the village in mid May, 2001.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:10) - There is mistrust amongst villagers for MAFF's successor, DEFRA. The whole parish was deeply affected and it would take a long time to recover.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:00) - David Morgans accused MAFF of bullying tactics.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 15:40 District Councils - David Incoll, Richard Brasington & Mr. A. Millie
  - Recorded view
- 16:35 Inquiry closed for the day
Friday 12/10/2001
- 10:30 Environment Agency - Geoff Bateman (Devon Area Manager), Malcolm Chudley (Environment Protection Manager), and Martin Booth (Environment Protection Manager)
  - Video recording - How far was burial considered as an alternative to pyres? Is burial a practical alternative?
  - Video recording - What practicalities need to be considered when assessing the suitability of burial sites?
  - Video recording (duration: 1:55) - Geoff Bateman, from the Environment Agency, explained that burial had been the standard disposal method during the 1967/68 outbreak. However, there had also been evidence that private water supplies to individual farms had been affected by leachate from these burials.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:34) - 'Where it was possible to bury, burial was one of the options used.' Martin Booth (Environmental Protection Manager) said that only one farmer actually asked that his culled cattle be buried on his land.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:58) - Mr Booth spoke of the 'rarity' with which they found conditions for burial which wouldn't lead to 'knock-on environmental problems' afterwards.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:18) - Mr Bateman said that the Environment Agency did not want the Ashmoor prject to go ahead.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:51) - The Agency's Malcolm Chudley told the Inquiry that they had investigated thirty cases of run-off from culled cattle stored on farms.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 11:25 Dartmoor National Park Nick Atkinson (Chief Executive)
  - Video recording - What was the role of parish councils? How important to the authorities involved was local knowledge?
  - Video recording - Was it right that public access was affected in the way that it was? What real effect did access restrictions have? How necessary were they?
  - Video recording - How did the manner and the extent of media coverage affect the image of the Devon countryside. Was this a fair portrayal? How did the blunt imagery affect tourism? How will it affect tourism in the near future?
  - Video recording (duration: 1:53) - Nick Atkinson, Chief Executive of Dartmoor National Park, said that there shouldn't be blanket closures of the Moor in the event of another FMD outbreak.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:38) - Dr Atkinson explained that Dartmoor farmers still face restrictions on moving their stock, yet they saw the public, now, with free access to the Moor.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:59) - Dr Atkinson thought that there was a 'much greater realisation' now, after the FMD crisis, of the economic worth of the environment.
  - Recorded view
- 11:55 RSPB - Mark Robins (Regional Policy Officer) and Ms. Frances Winder (Agriculture Policy Officer)
  - Recorded view
- 12:20 Devon County Council Trading Standards - Roger Rivett (Head of Trading Standards)
  - Video recording (duration: 2:43) - Roger Rivett, Head of Devon County Council's Trading Standards Service, explained the role of his organisation in the context of the FMD outbreak.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:13) - Mr Rivett thought that, at a local level, staff from the various agencies tried very hard to do their best by working together.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:45) - Mr Rivett was concerned that the Trading Standards Service wasn't given a role in planning the response to the outbreak. MAFF's strategic planning took place elsewhere.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:37) - '...The Ministry failed to shift the public perception that they were secretive and, frankly, arrogant in the way they were managing the response to the outbreak.'
  - Recorded view
- 12:50 DAL Vere and Partners (veterinary surgeons) - Wendy Vere - Quoted earlier in this report.
  - Video recording - Use of local vets by DeFRA - communications between DeFRA and vets.
  - Video recording - Command and control was too central - it was 'carnage by computer!'.
  - Video recording - What was 'carnage by computer' in practical terms?
  - Video recording - The spread of FMD on unburnt matter from pyres - a vivid account.
  - Video recording - After the outbreak in the sixties, we were told, 'don't light fires'!
  - Video recording (duration: 1:35) - Wendy Vere, of DAL Vere and Partners, described the policy of culling livestock on holdings that neighboured infected farms. 'That's absolutely fine if you're sitting in front of a computer,' she said, 'but it didn't work on the ground.'
  - Video recording (duration: 1:19) - Mrs Vere said that farmers had just three hours to appeal against the culling order.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:39) - Veterinary surgeon, Wendy Vere, told the Inquiry that she'd been given samples of unburnt skin and hair which had fallen onto the North Devon Link road.
  - Video recording (duration: 2:05) - Mrs Vere argued that the clean up operation had been over zealous. She related an incident in which a client of hers was asked to remove all the wool snagged on bared-wire fences.
  - Video recording (duration: 4:24) - 'I have no idea why there was such a reluctance to use local vets. I got so frustrated trying to get answers out of the local MAFF office that I eventually sent my questions to London...'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:57) - The approach to this outbreak had been handled with 'a behind-closed-doors mentality'.
  - Recorded view
- 13:10 Lunch break
- 14:00 Seale Hayne College - Clare Broom (pro-vice Chancellor)
  - Video recording (duration: 2:16) - Clare Broom, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth University, estimated the costs of the outbreak to the university.
  - Recorded view
- 14:30 RSPCA - John Tresidder (South-West Regional Superintendent)
  - Video recording - John Tresidder (South West Regional Superintendent) (RSPCA Markets Inspector also speaks) - Upholding the law on animal cruelty - central regulation and co-ordination.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:24) - RSPCA inspectors saw lambs literally drowning in mud, explained Regional Superintendent, John Tresidder. Animal welfare problems were on an 'unprecedented scale'.
  - Video recording (duration: 1:20) - RSPCA Market Inspector, Steve Donahue, said that some farmers had been refused permission to move animals even a very short distance.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:15) - 'Disease control made it necessary but there was no contingency plan to take care of these animals while they were suffering.'
  - Video recording (duration: 0:53) - In some cases, the RSPCA had to step in and slaughter flocks of sheep.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:40) - The RSPCA's telephone operators had been in tears after talking to farmers about their plight.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:58) - 'Feed is in very short supply, prices are soaring, farmers are broke and short of feed'.
  - Recorded view
- 15:10 Western Counties Veterinary Association - Phil Davies (Team Manager)
  - Video recording (duration: 1:04) - Devon vet Phil Davies, the Senior Vice-President of the WCVA, called for contingency plans to prevent the 'medieval' scenes of funeral pyres.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:31) - The WCVA saw benefit in the idea of retained local vets to be used in such situations.
  - Video recording (duration: 0:51) - Decades of 'pruning' in the State Veterinary Service was responsible, in part, for the poor management of the crisis.
  - Recorded view
- 15:35 English Nature - Phil Collins
  - Recorded view
- 16:00 Countryside Alliance - Mal Treharne (Public Relations Director) and Hugh Thomas (member)
  - Video recording - Government had been warned about the possibility of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 16:45 Summing-up by the Chairman
- 16:49 Recess
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 16:55 News conference with the Chairman
  - Video recording - verifying information given by witnesses.
  - Video recording - Will the Inquiry address the issue of vaccination? How will the Inquiry assess the suggestions made by witnesses (particularly, with respect to farmers' incomes and the marketing of food)?
  - Recorded view
  - Recorded view
- 17:10 Inquiry closed
  - Recorded view

Equipment used -
- Web camera:
  - Axis 200+ loaned by Devon County Council's Traffic Control Room.
- Video cameras:
  - Sony DXC-3000P loaned by BBC Devon Online.
  - Axis 2420 loaned by BBC Devon Online.
  - Panasonic NVDS28 provided by Devon County Council's Media Education centre.
  - As above.
- Streaming:
  - Panasonic MX50 video mixer provided by Devon County Council's Media Education centre.
  - Rack of three NT-based P.C.s with video encoders loaned by Eclipse Internet.
  - Devon County Council's leased line to Eclipse.
  - Streaming servers at Eclipse Internet.

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