LANCASHIRE farmer is taking his battle against the government to hold a public inquiry into foot and mouth, to the High Court.

Thomas Binns lost more than 3,000 sheep and lambs and 60 cattle when his Hecklin Farm, Clitheroe, was hit by the outbreak which gripped the country last year.

He and seven other farmers from across the UK are demanding the government holds a public inquiry into the outbreak which devastated farming communities.

The group has taken its fight to the High Court in London where a judicial review was due to start today. It is expected to last four days.

Mr Binns, vice-chairman of the National Farmers Union, in Lancashire, said this was not about claiming compensation but about finding out what went wrong -- and why.

He said: "We need to bring the people who made the decisions about foot and mouth to the inquiry and make them accountable for those decisions.

"The government is holding its own inquiries but we want it to be made public. This raises constitutional issues."