Farmers and rural businesses must hope for the best - but prepare for the worst following the confirmation of Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey and worries over possible outbreaks in other parts of the country.

Country Land and Business Association South West Director, John Mortimer, said that a key concern was the time which elapsed since the Pirbright outbreak - and the fact that the disease had broken out of the original restricted area.

Although DEFRA had again acted swiftly and decisively, restricting all livestock movements and introducing a ban on hunting and stalking, he said there was now an urgent need to establish just where the current outbreak had originated - and to ensure that it was first contained and then eliminated.

"On top of the floods, the low prices and shortages of feed in the livestock sector and then the first outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease this will come as a very hard blow to many sectors of the rural economy. Businesses have had to deal with a real stop/start summer but every business associated with the countryside - from farm shops to fence makers - had breathed a sigh of relief then, just when we thought we had reached an Indian summer, this news breaks. It's devastating," said Mr. Mortimer.

"We need to get to the bottom of this outbreak extremely quickly. DEFRA have acted efficiently and we will continue to work closely with them to help contain this outbreak and minimise disruption.

Mr. Mortimer warned that there would be hundreds of businesses around the country that faced financial loss as a direct result of the nationwide ban on the movement of livestock - particularly with the National Dairy event scheduled to take place next week.

"Farmers and landowners are acutely aware of how fast this virulent disease can spread - so it is of paramount importance that not only the industry, but everybody going onto farms, observes tough biosecurity measures we are urging everybody to step up their biosecurity and to maintain a close and careful watch on their stock," said Mr Mortimer.

He said that the Association would continue to update its members as the situation developed and that he was expecting cconfirmation of the movements which will be permitted under license to be issued shortly.

"We will also continue to keep a watching brief on news that animal carcasses will again be moved to Frome for incineration," he said.