CASH should be thrown into research to produce a reliable test to find whether cattle are infected with BSE disease, say Burnley councillors.

They are writing to the Ministry of Agriculture calling for rapid results, in light of the current crisis and public concern.

The authority is also calling for 'an urgent review' of procedures, designed to ensure that produce from infected animals does not enter the human food chain and is destroyed.

They say this is needed to remove doubts relating to the effectiveness of the procedures.

"We have a major crisis of confidence in this country at the moment and a major economic crisis for the food industry," said finance chairman Peter Kenyon.

"But we also have a Government paralysed and incompetent to deal with the problem."

He added: "The Government has clearly taken a very short-sighted view in the interests of profit and not in the long-term interests of the country and the industry itself.

"It is now essential to take these measures and restore confidence," he added.

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