Setback for sheep scab controls

EFFORTS to control sheep scab were dealt a blow yesterday as manufacturers said they would be stopping making the cypermethrin dips used to tackle it.

NFU Scotland expressed bitter disappointment at the move. But Professor Steve Dean, the chief executive of the government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate, welcomed it. The use of cypermethrin was suspended four years ago in response to several serious pollution incidents in rivers caused by farmers in England and Wales incorrectly disposing of the products.

The suspension was to have allowed industry to develop a safe disposal method. But Prof Dean said the routine use of cypermethrin had proved too challenging for environmental safety.

NFU vice-president Nigel Miller, however, disputed the assertion, saying work undertaken in Scotland by the union and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency had provided evidence he believed justified the reinstatement of the dips, but which was subsequently ignored by the VMD.