It also emerged yesterday that the government is to look at whether failings at the site constituted a breach of animal by-product regulations, an offence which carries a maximum of two years in prison.

The Meat Hygiene Service, the Health Protection Agency, and the Food Standards Agency found a string of problems at the plant, any one of which might have led to the infection being spread:

· polythene bags full of residue of liquid waste could have blown around the site;

· plastic-covered bales of wood shavings for bedding were kept outside;

· water was leaking from roofs into sheds, meaning infection could spread;

· pest control workers noted many gulls around, attracted to uncovered bins full of turkey-breast trimmings;

· gulls were taking turkey waste to roosts on top of the turkey-house 500m away;

· holes in the turkey houses could have allowed in birds or rodents.

Source: The Guardian