By JANE FIELD and STUART DYE

FOOT-and-mouth took a dangerous step closer to Warrington this week with an outbreak of the cattle plague confirmed at a farm in Little Leigh, nr Northwich.

At present no farm in Warrington is affected but animals are already being slaughtered at six farms in the Little Leigh area - less than three miles away from farms in Lower Whitley on the Warrington border.

And south of the town has been designated 'Infected Area Status' by Maff (Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries) for being within 10KM of the infected farm.

The status affects an area which takes in everything south of the line from the St Helens Canal (at Widnes) to the A57 on Sankey Way, through the town to the M6, down to the A56 then through Lymm to the A556 (Knutsford).

The status has been put in place as part of preventative measures but all those farms within the area could receive a visit from a Ministry vet to do checks on livestock.

The outbreak at Little Leigh is the fourth confirmed case of the epidemic in the county out of more than 4,000 nationally - and Warrington farmers fear that it is only a matter of time before someone here is struck.

Dave Johnson, whose farm, Greenhills, is close to the Northwich border, says he is living in fear of the epidemic and is isolated on his farm. He is taking all precautions he can to protect his 80 cattle but is worried it may all be in vain.

"Emotionally we are not coping well with all this," he said.

"We are scared stiff. We just have no idea how it is spreading or how far the disease travels on the wind."

Northwich farmers' worst fears were realised when Malcolm Evans, a beef farmer at Desley Heath Farm. had 100 cattle and nine sheep destroyed after the disease took hold at the weekend.

Mr Evans, 57, has lived all his life at the farm which has passed through the generations since his grandfather ran it. He told the Guardian his family were devastated. "On Sunday I just sat down and cried," he said.

"Some of the animals were like pets. They would come up and give you a kiss. It's like losing children.

"We've been so careful in laying down disinfectant and doing everything we should. It's our worst nightmare come true."

The cull started in the early hours of Sunday and by Monday afternoon all animals had been buried.