CALLED OFF; FOOT-AND-MOUTH 2007 TWO MAJOR EVENTS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF OUTBREAK.

Byline: By ANDREW FORGRAVE Rural Affairs Editor

BRITAIN'S foot-and-mouth outbreak yesterday claimed two major casualties in Wales' rural calendar.

Llanrwst Show, which attracts crowds of 6,000 people, was cancelled while tomorrow's Welsh National sheepdog trials has been postponed.

Cerrigydrudion Show may also be put back but Meirioneth Show confirmed it would be going ahead, though almost certainly without livestock.

Despite optimism on Monday it could go ahead, Llanrwst Show organisers met on Monday and agreed to cut their losses.

Show secretary Dorothy Roberts said it was an agonising decision that was taken even before confirmation of a second FMD outbreak in Surrey.

"We've spent much of the past year organising the show and to lose it now is very disappointing," she said.

"Llanrwst remains very much an agricultural show and we feared farmers would not come if it was run just with horses."

In 2002, in the wake of the previous year's FMD outbreak, the event was restricted to horses and subsequently made a financial loss.

The show had already booked marquees and other equipment, and will now have to write off thousands of pounds.

Mrs Roberts said: "We were also worried about the weather. If that had turned bad, it could have been an absolute disaster."

Supporters now plan a series of fundraising events this autumn.

Organisers of the Welsh National sheepdog trials were advised on Monday to call off the three-day event at Bonvilston, near Cardiff, due to start tomorrow.

EllisWyn Edwards, Wales president of the International Sheep Dog Society, said the event will be rearranged at the same venue at a future date once movement curbs had been eased.

The event will need to be run before the International trials, in Ireland, on September 14-16 if a Wales team is to be represented.

The big county shows at Anglesey and Denbigh are still going ahead but without cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

Denbighshire County Council yesterday threw its weight behind calls for people to support local farming by visiting the Denbigh and Flint Show on August 16.

Meirioneth Show committee met on Monday night and also agreed to press ahead with its event on August 22 at Tywyn.

It is leaving the door ajar for livestock but admits the show is likely to be restricted to horses.

Secretary Douglas Powell said: "It is disappointing but we remain confident we can stage a successful show because we will still have a host of other attractions."

This Saturday's events at Eglwysbach and Llanfyllin are also on, minus livestock.

Llanfyllin Show has cut ticket prices and confirmed it will press ahead with its sheepdog trials but at a new location, at Penllwyn Farm, Llanfyllin.

Officials in Wrexham were last night said to be investigating an alleged breach of livestock movement restrictions. They are working with Derbyshire Council.

Experts probing the foot and mouth outbreak said last night there was a "strong probability"

the source of the disease was the Pirbright laboratory facility.

The report by the Health and Safety Executive did not narrow down the likely source further to either the Merial Animal Health part of the Pirbright site or to the part run by the Institute for Animal Health (IAH).

It said there was a "real possibility" that the disease was spread by human movement.

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CAPTION(S):

The Welsh National sheepdog trials are a casualty of the crisis - it will be rearranged when animal movement curbs have been eased; Ellis Wyn Edwards, Wales president of the International Sheep Dog Society