AN animal loving family of vegetarians is caught up in the foot and mouth crisis, determined to defend their flock of rescued animals against a rumoured cull of all the remaining sheep between Chepstow and Gloucester.

Anthony and Judith Padfield and their daughter Emma say they will blockade their home at Old Street Barn, Lensbrook, Blakeney.

"They will have to shoot us first," Mrs Padfield told the Review.

The Padfields have virtually cut themselves off from the outside world since the first outbreak of foot and mouth was reported in the North of England.

Mrs Padfield explained: "We moved everything in on March 1, almost two weeks before the first local outbreak which was on a neighbour's property, Old Street Farm. We feared it would come here because the farmer, Mr Davis, is a dealer."

The Padfields care for a flock of 43 rescued sheep and three pot-bellied pigs.

"We battened down the hatches immediately. We constantly scrub down everything and keep all the stock inside. No-one is allowed here. We keep our cars outside the holding and allow nothing and no-one to visit us," said Mrs Padfield.

The family is concerned the mass cull could end in Old Street Farm being used by MAFF as the abattoir site.

"We have been told that this is only being considered as a contingency measure and we have since heard – though not officially – that if a cull of all the sheep goes ahead it will now be at a farm near St Briavels," said Mrs Padfield.

But it is the possibility of a mass cull that really worries them.

Mr Padfield said: "News is now creeping out that MAFF are considering culling all sheep between the Wye and the Severn, between Chepstow and Gloucester. The disease was here five weeks ago and we survived it by being bloody careful. There are no animals left for miles around us and I do not intend to let some faceless bureaucrat now decide to cull our animals just because it looks good on a plan."

He added that his family and others could see the logic in MAFF's thinking and said he believed "heads would roll" in the aftermath of the crisis.

The Padfields keep their stock on 15 acres and since March 1 all the animals have been kept indoors.

Though surrounded by the disease they say they have managed to keep it at bay by adopting a meticulous regime of cleanliness, turning Old Street Barn into a virtual prison.

"We are very angry that having managed to survive the outbreak and at a time when the disease is moving away from this part of Gloucestershire we now face a new threat," said Mrs Padfield.

A MAFF spokesman told the Review a decision on whether or not the cull would be taken was still being awaited.