No charges over bird flu outbreak

Bernard Matthews will not face charges over the outbreak of bird flu at one of its plants, the Food Standards Agency has announced.

Following an investigation, the FSA said that there was no evidence that food waste at the site in Holton, Suffolk, had been stored inappropriately.

A statement issued by the FSA on Monday said: "We have carefully scrutinised and considered the evidence in this case and concluded there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction."

A statement released by Bernard Matthews said that they had always maintained that they had acted with "the utmost integrity and cooperated fully with the relevant authorities".

Nearly 160,000 birds were culled at the plant, following the discovery of the deadly H5N1 virus.

However, a report by Defra, published in February, highlighted a number of failings at the plant, including wild birds feeding on meat scraps left in open waste bins.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Chris Huhne said: "Given that the Defra-commissioned reports into the Bernard Matthews affair pointed clearly to breaches in the regulations and that there was TV footage of wild birds feeding off open waste bins at the plant containing poultry meat, this is an astonishing decision.

"When Parliament returns, I will press ministers to give a much fuller explanation than that which we have been given.

"I hope that the Food Standards Agency has not been influenced by short-term concerns about employment at the plant. If consumers lose confidence in the regulatory regime, the damage to the whole poultry farming industry would potentially be devastating.

"It is in no-one's interest - not consumers and not farmers - to pussyfoot about applying food safety standards."

Defra's own scientific investigation into the bird flu outbreak is expected to be concluded after Easter.

(KMcA/SP)