Government vets were battling last night to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in an attempt to avert a repeat of the crisis that crippled the British countryside in 2001.

They began the cull of 64 cattle at a small farm near Guildford, in Surrey, after the animals tested positive for the disease.

The movement of all cattle, pigs, sheep and goats anywhere in Britain was suspended as part of the contingency plans drawn up after the last outbreak. All livestock within 3km (1.8 miles) of the farm were being tested and a 10km surveillance zone was in place last night.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, and Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, abandoned their summer holidays to travel back to London to deal with the emergency.Officials are desperate to avoid a recurrence of the outbreak in 2001, when more than 6.5 million animals were killed at a cost to the economy of £8 billion.

Many farmers believe that the three-day delay in halting the movement of cattle last time was responsible for the outbreak’s devastating effects.

Mr Brown took part in a meeting of Cobra, the Whitehall emergency committee, by video conference last night, as officials discussed how to deal with the outbreak. Ports in Northern Ireland were closed to all animal movement from Britain. The rest of the European Union was also expected to block imports.

Farmers said that they were “hoping and praying” that this was an isolated incident and that the lessons of 2001 had been learnt.

Tim Bonner, spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, said: “This is not just potentially a disaster for farmers but for the wider rural economy that was devastated in 2001.” At the height of the tourist season, he feared the repercussions if the countryside were shut down.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• 6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas
• Remembrance Day: All the lonely heroes