FOLLOWING the first outbreak of bird flu in the EU this year on Monday, farmers in the South West have been warned to be on their guard against the threat by their MEP Neil Parish.

FOLLOWING the first outbreak of bird flu in the EU this year on Monday, farmers in the South West have been warned to be on their guard against the threat by their MEP Neil Parish.

The outbreak was on a poultry holding in Saxony, near the Polish border.

Mr Parish said control measures set out in the EU's directive he steered through the parliament in 2005 were preventing the spread of the disease.

He said: "This should remind us all that the threat of bird flu has not gone away. As we head into winter, we must all stay on our guard to ensure that another devastating outbreak does not occur in the UK.