I DIDN'T think I would be hit so directly by the disastrous outbreak of foot and mouth disease on only the second day.

Apart from the emptying meat counters in my supermarket, I set off for my usual walk along the canal bank -- to find prohibition notices.

Since then things have gone from bad to worse.

It's unbelieveable that the disease we thought had been stamped out decades ago should reappear with such a vengeance.

One of the first outbreaks happened in Withnell, near my adopted home in Whittle, as Leigh area farmers were keeping their fingers crossed that the virus wouldn't strike their livestock.

It has been heartbreaking to see the piles of animals being slaughtered and burned in such an awful way.

May the disease be nipped in the bud before more flocks are decimated.

We must feel sorry for the farmers who have not had it easy since the onset of BSE, and we can do our bit by keeping off farmland and paths and by heeding the keep out signs.

Amazingly some selfish or ignorant people have ignored them.

Over the weekend Wigan council staff were busy signing footpaths throughout the borough with closure notices.

Within hours some were destroyed by thoughtless morons who don't understand the seriousness of the situation.

The orders mean everyone including sightseers, walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Let's all do our best to keep the awful disease at bay and try to help the farmers keep their animals alive -- until it really is their time to go.