THE future looks bleak for a battling Bromsgrove farmer who is being forced to destroy part of his herd of cows following the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease.

John Hodgetts, who runs Battlefield Farm, in Kidderminster Road, as well as three others in the area, is taking the measures after the Ministry of Agriculture stopped the movement of livestock.

Because cows over 30- months-old cannot be put in the human food chain, some of Mr Hodgetts's herd, who are approaching that age face being killed because they cannot be taken to market.

Also dairy cows who have a two month 'dry' period each year cannot be moved between his other farms which have become a no-go area following the ban.

His sheep also cannot be put on the export market where prices continue to drop because they cannot be transported.

Mr Hodgetts, whose other farms are in Upton Warren and Romsley, said: "I can see this getting worse before it gets better.

"There are lots of financial implications but we cannot move our stock around like we normally would.

"I am concerned because the virus is believed to have gone from Northumberland to Devon via the M5 which Battlefield Farm is near."

Mr Hodgetts harked back to 1968 when an outbreak lead to his farm being closed down for eight months.

He added: "It was horrendous."

Another knock-on effect of the outbreak is a rise in meat prices which is expected to go up by 25 per cent.

The part-owner of Worcester Road butcher's, Badham and Grizell, Geoff Grizell, expects to see this happen in a couple of weeks.

He said: "There is plenty of meat stock around but we'll just have to wait and see."

National Farmers' Union (NFU) spokesman said farmers will do whatever it takes to stop the disease turning into the complete catastrophe of the 1960s.

On Tuesday a case had been confirmed at a a farm in Herefordshire.