A hotelier who allegedly served guests beef-on-the-bone days after a government ban faces prosecution.

Jim Sutherland, 34, is the first person in Britain to fall foul of the beef-on-the-bone ban.

The government outlawed its sale in December after fears that infected bone marrow could transmit mad cow disease to humans.

But Mr Sutherland then staged a widely-publicised dinner for 170 guests at The Lodge, Carfraemill, 20 miles south of Edinburgh. A rib of beef was allegedly served.

Mr Sutherland, who has been summoned to appear at Selkirk Sheriff Court on March 10, has been charged under the Food Safety Act and faces a possible fine of �5,000 or six months in prison if convicted.

He said: "I want to say quite a lot about the subject because I feel very strongly about it. But my lawyer has advised me not to comment."

News of the prosecution has drawn criticism from both major opposition parties.

Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesman Charles Kennedy said it would generate further controversy over the ban.

He added: "It is sad that this overreaction by the government is now likely to focus attention on cases like this, rather than on the much more important consideration of securing a lifting of the beef ban itself."

Scottish Tory chairman Raymond Robertson said: "This is a complete waste of public money which highlights the ineptitude of the government's ill-considered ban of beef-on-the-bone.

"A person is 2,000 times more likely to die in a rail accident than from eating beef-on-the-bone, yet the government hasn't banned trains."
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