THE chairman of the Malvern-based National Sheep Association said claims that "mad cow disease" could be found in sheep were totally unfounded.

"In plain English, there is no BSE in sheep," said John Thornley, on Wednesday this week.

"In fact, the Prime Minister's Office this afternoon released a statement confirming this," he said.

"Having said that, it is right that people should be on the look-out for it; that's a reasonable scientific thing to do. We have actually been looking for a long time.

"But we are confident that nothing untoward will be found. BSE in sheep is not an issue," he said.