Ploughing match cancelled due to foot and mouth

Farmer Margaret Eldridge said: 'It's a safety precaution. We thought we should do the right thing and we felt it was best, but we feel disappointed.'

Dairy farmer Phil Hook said Hailsham farmers were well aware of what was going on with the foot-and-mouth crisis and the new threat from mosquitoes bringing blue tongue disease.

He said: 'The foot and mouth is still contained outside our area and we hope a spell of bad weather might kill the midges off.'

The Government has announced seven farms have been affected by foot-and-mouth outside the Wealden area since August.

And a fourth animal has been culled on a third premises near Ipswich, Suffolk, after testing positive for blue tongue disease.