The British public is today being asked by the Government to report suspicious bird deaths amid fears of a deadly strain of avian flu.

Anyone with concerns about a bird deaths is being invited to join a surveillance project by calling a helpline manned by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The call comes after a ban on the import of live poultry and feathers from Turkey was imposed by the European Commission yesterday after 1,870 birds died of avian flu last week. There are fears that migrating birds are carrying the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus from Asia, where 60 people have died.

The risk of the avian flu strain reaching Britain is still considered to be "low" but the Government is urging people to be alert. A spokeswoman for Defra said: "There is a possibility that it could get here and so we are being vigilant."

Under the arrangements, local groups such as the RSPB, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the British Trust for Ornithology will come to take away a dead bird for testing at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

The European Commission has already placed restrictions on poultry from Russia, Kazakhstan and large parts of Asia. Officials became anxious last week when three ducks died in Romania but initial tests for bird flu were negative. More than 30 birds were found dead in eastern Romania over the weekend. On Sunday authorities began killing thousands of household birds and banned the movement of animals from affected areas in eastern Romania.

The Defra helpline for anyone wanting to report a suspicious bird death is 08459 335577.

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