Culture secretary Chris Smith has warned that there is a "real worry" that the number of American tourists visiting the UK might take up to four years to recover to pre foot and mouth levels. He likened the decline in visitors to that seen after the Gulf war, when US tourists were worried about terrorist attacks.

The government has also moved to dismiss claims, made in a report from the National Environmental Technology Centre, that the burning pyres of animals pose a health risk. The NETC report claims that the pyres were emitting higher levels of carcinogenic dioxins than all the country's factories combined.

Defence minister Geoff Hoon said that some other reports had said that the pyres had caused no more pollution than "two bonfire nights combined". Friends of the Earth dismissed his statement, saying that they preferred the solution put forward by the Environment Agency - the use of rendering plants, controlled incinerators and state-of-the-art landfills.

Agriculture officials admitted yesterday that there are "very serious problems" over the disposal of tens of thousands of carcasses in Devon.

New cases over the weekend have brought the total to 1,431.