It is a little bit of good news for a change

Philip Board Farmer

She was due to be put down, but a change in government policy meant she could be spared.

Farm owner Philip Board, 42, said it was "brilliant" that the quarantine had been lifted, adding: "It is a little bit of good news for a change."

His wife Michaela, 35, said: "It is such a relief, and it is really nice to get back to normal."

She said Phoenix was now filling out and drinking four buckets of milk a day.

Appeal for mercy

Phoenix had faced slaughter despite surviving a cull of 15 cattle and 30 sheep at the Board's farm in Membury, Devon.

She lay huddled next to her dead mother for five days before being discovered by Maff officials who had come to disinfect the land.

The Board family claimed she was healthy and appealed for her to be spared.

It is just nice to see Phoenix healthy and happy

Michaela Board

The calf was granted a stay of execution after Downing Street announced it was relaxing the policy of culling animals on farms near to infected sites.

But Maff put her under a 21-day quarantine and she was tested regularly before the threat of slaughter was lifted.

The policy shift came after Phoenix's picture appeared on the front page of some national newspapers, and farmers' leaders claimed that killing the calf would "make King Herod look like a humanitarian".

Cash cow

Since Phoenix's rise to fame, her owners have had offers for her services.

One company offered Phoenix a pantomime role, appearing alongside Shane Ritchie in Jack and the Beanstalk.

The Boards have also been advised that Phoenix could prove to be a gold mine, commanding big sums for picture rights, book deals and personal appearances.

Such was the interest that Phoenix now has her own agent to manage her affairs - though no decision has yet been made on her future.

Mrs Board said: "We did not know whether we were coming or going as there were so many offers of different things like T-shirts and advertising.

"It has turned our lives upside down, but we have not made any decisions about doing anything.

"It would be nice to be able to give some money to the RSPCA or the Green Wellie appeal for farmers, but it just depends if the interest in Phoenix is still there.

"If we can help the countryside it would be great, but it is just nice to see Phoenix healthy and happy."

Mr Board said people from as far away as Australia and the United States had written inquiring about the Board family tree.

People had also called from all over the world, he said, adding: "It must have touched people's hearts."