A MAN sparked a major foot and mouth alert when he was caught setting fire to sheep carcasses in a lane on the outskirts of Blackburn.

But the town's magistrates were told that the incident had nothing to do with the disease except that Naweed Mohammed Alam had made a "pathetic attempt" to imitate the incineration techniques he had seen on television.

The court heard that the 23-year-old halal meat wholesaler tried to set fire to the carcases of more than 20 sheep using newspaper and a can of four star petrol. And he expected to be able to return to the funeral pyre and bury nothing more than a pile of ashes.

Alam, 23, of Lancaster Place, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to failing to bury carcases in a field accessible to dogs and an offence under the Animal Health Act of 1981. He was fined £400 with £300 costs and £65 compensation for the eventual cost of incinerating the dead animals.

Ian Hughes, prosecuting for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said police caught Alam driving down Under Billinge Lane in a Mercedes van at 10pm on March 14. Nearby they found a pile of sheep carcases and there were two carcases still in the back of the vehicle.

"Due to concerns about foot and mouth disease the area was immediately sealed off," said Mr Hughes.

"When trading standards officers arrived on the scene it was clear some attempt had been made to burn the carcases. They were taken to a council depot and the entire area, the vehicle and its contents were thoroughly disinfected."

Stephen Parker, defending, said the incident had nothing to do with the foot and mouth outbreak but was simply a case of a young man in charge of the family business who got things wrong.