FARMERS in Lancashire will have to insure livestock against foot and mouth and other illnesses, if the Government gets the go-ahead for a new scheme.

The Government is looking into a number of insurance schemes in other countries to remove the industry's reliance on handouts from the taxpayer and the EU.

There have been 50 confirmed cases of foot and mouth in Lancashire since the outbreak began and more than 3.5 million animals have been destroyed nationally. The Government has paid out £844 million in compensation and £57 million to meet the cost of cleaning and disinfecting farms across the country.

A compulsory insurance scheme for livestock is the brainchild of Lord Whitty, the minister responsible for the Rural Payments Agency.

But Andrew Bristol, who runs Whitaker Farm in West Bradford, thinks that now is the wrong time to be looking into insurance schemes. He said: "At the end of the day, none of us likes paying insurance. These schemes are all right as long as they cover everything. They are all right until it comes to paying out, they don't like that."

"Instead of looking into insurance schemes, the officials should be looking into the cause of foot and mouth. The Government is as much to blame for the outbreak as farmers are."

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said: "Lord Whitty has mentioned it in passing and one of the things that needs to be considered is whether farmers can be insured against these losses."