ENGLISH FARMER CONDEMNS RACING An English farmer today criticised racecourse officials for staging a two-day meeting a few hundred yards from her beef farm. Linda Sewell, 37, says the meeting today and tomorrow at Huntingdon will pose a huge risk to her 132-strong herd of cattle. Ms Sewell says the risk of foot-and-mouth spreading to her farm is enormous because thousands of people will drive past the entrance to her farm at Brampton, near Huntingdon, on their way to the meeting. She says she has complained to racecourse managers but been told that they feel beginning racing again at Huntingdon is entirely safe. 'I am worried sick,' she said. 'I think it is absolutely crazy. It beggars belief and makes no sense at all. 'Everyone who comes here will have to drive past my farm, they will then hold the meeting a few hundred yards away from where my cattle are. 'People will be coming from all over the country including from areas where the disease has already been confirmed. 'I`ve spoken to the racecourse but have been told that they feel it will be safe because of the precautions they will take.' 'In Ireland they had one case of foot-and-mouth and banned racing,' she said. 'Here we have had more than a hundred cases and yet racing goes on. It makes no sense at all except that it raises revenue for the Government. 'If my herd do contract foot-and-mouth it will mean the destruction of a lifetime`s work. 'If the cattle have to be destroyed I`m not sure I could bear it, to be honest.' Racecourse officials say all visitors will pass through disinfectant pads and they will take all precautions they can to ensure that no one spreads foot-and-mouth during the meeting.
