The case has prompted one senior vet to warn that many farmers struggle to keep up with new bio-security practices, and a farmers' union believes UK farmers are being "throttled" by restrictions.

Peter Jinman, vice-president of the British Veterinary Association, said the new bio-security practices were linked to low morale, endless red tape and crippling finances forcing many farms out of business.

He told BBC News Online that farmers need an injection of optimism and confidence from the government.

There is still an inordinate raft of restrictions on farmers ... there is no way things could go back to how they used to be

Kevin Pearce, NFU

"Many farmers have become extremely depressed about the state of the industry and need guidance for all these rules and regulations," he said.

"The industry has had to learn a lot of lessons about stringent bio-security measures and that disease does spread easily."

"Many of the measures are costly and I know many small farms are going under, while farms passed through generations could become a thing of the past as farmers sell up to follow a more reliable career."

Mr Jinman said the government had a role to play in injecting pride back in the industry - by reviewing its exports policy and addressing farmers' fears that they are not wanted.

Kevin Pearce, chief livestock advisor of the National Farmers' Union, agreed that bureauracy was making life harder for farmers' but he stressed that bio-security standards had not slipped.

Much of the countryside was closed off

"There is still an inordinate raft of restrictions on farmers, causing frustration among them and which prove there is no way that things could go back to how they used to be," he said.

He said restrictions which showed bio-security issues were being maintained daily include:

• A ban on the movement and sale of livestock for 20 days after a new animal is brought on the farm.

• The need to apply for a licence to move sheep even to a neighbouring farm.

• Insistence on a fresh set of clothes and disinfect utensils and vehicles being used while travelling between groups of animals.

• Strict guidelines on how many premises can be visited by a farmer on the way to a market.

Mr Pearce said farmers need some of these restrictions unravelled and he wants a renewed promotional push by the government of British produce.

"Exporting should not be a dirty word; at the moment we import one third of the beef used in this country because it is easier than dealing with issues crippling the industry," he said.

"We are part of the single European Union and it is maddening for farmers to see themselves being throttled out of competitive selling because of restrictions not gagging their European counterparts."

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the message on bio-security was constantly being issued to farmers.

He said they had responded well and that further initiatives are planned for later in the year.

"Every farmer has realised, after having foot-and-mouth, that bio-security is here to stay," he said.