£25m lifeline for hill farmers in the wake of foot-and-mouth outbreak

SCOTLAND'S farmers will receive £25 million to compensate for losses caused by foot-and-mouth and made worse by an "unsympathetic" attitude at Westminster, Richard Lochhead, the Holyrood environment secretary, said yesterday.

The outbreak of the disease in Surrey earlier this year came at the worst time for the industry in Scotland. Sheep could not be moved off the hills, leaving many at risk of starvation, and farmers could not transport animals to market.