Farmers of free-range and organic produce must in future keep their birds away from lakes, ponds and other areas that attract large numbers of wild birds to avoid new outbreaks of avian flu.

The shake-up in the rules was signalled today by Fred Landeg, acting Government Chief Veterinary Officer, who said the farm at the centre of the lethal H5N1 virus in Suffolk was unsuitable for outdoor poultry farming because it was so close to an ornamental lake that was home to 1,000 water birds.

He advised the poultry industry to review production practices and for farmers to call in ornithological experts for advice.

However there will be no threat to production of free-range poultry, which is popular with consumers, and no orders to lock birds indoors unless there is a high risk of infection.

Mr Landeg spoke out as the Government published the initial veterinary epidemiology report into the source of the outbreak which has led to the cull of 96,000 turkeys, ducks and geese.

Experts are still undecided if the virus arrived in Britain on wild birds or whether it was transmitted by vehicles or people linked with the import of live birds and meat from the Continent.

Mr Landeg said the genetic sequencing of the virus strain showed that it was a 99.98 per cent match to that found in a wild bird in the Czech Republic this summer. He was also insistent that the site of the farm so close to an ornamental lake and where large numbers of birds congregated was a significant factor in the disease outbreak.

Testing of bird droppings in the area was still under way and he was keeping an open mind about the source, but he made clear that officals had found no evidence whatsoever so far of any link with the importation of live birds or continental meat.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds however was angry that the Government seemed to be blaming wild birds for the outbreak when, despite increased surveillance of birds, not one had been found with the virus.

It believes that the disease could easily have been brought by one infected commercial turkey or duck, especially as the bio-security on the farm was poor.

Mark Avery, the RSPB conservation director, also accused the Government of failing to take speedy action to prevent the possible spread of the disease from infected turkeys to wild birds. He had asked three weeks ago for bird scaring measures to be introduced at the infected Redgrave Park Farm, near Diss, to keep wild birds away from possible disease, he said.

Automatic gas guns are in place and being fired every three minutes during daylight to keep wild birds away from the land. The soil has also been ploughed and disinfectant spread on the earth. The bird-scarers are commonly used to protect crops and pose no threat to birds or other wildlife.

The “very poor” bio-security at the farm is another singificant factor in the disease outbreak, Mr Landeg said. Workers on the farm were able to move freely between farms run by Redgrave Poultry without chaging their overalls and boots or washing their hands, basic hygiene rules in the industry.

This is how the disease was spread to the second infected premises, Hill Meadow Farm at Knettishall, where workers lived in a mobile home close to thousands of birds.

It seems unlikely, however, that any prosecution will be brought against the company because bio-security is not covered by legislation. Legal action is taken only in cases in which lax hygiene causes animal welfare problems.

Ministers are eager to tighten controls to prevent new disease outbreaks in future, however.

The Government has ruled out any connection between this outbreak in free-range birds and the deadly avian flu virus found in turkey chicks at Bernard Matthews farms in Suffolk in February.

Geoffrey Buchanan, operations director at Redgrave Poultry, a subsidiary of Gressingham Ducks, said that in future he would avoid rearing birds in farms near areas popular with migratory birds. New hygiene standards were also being introduced and in future workers would not be housed on farms.

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