Two thousand sheep belonging to an Oxfordshire family have been slaughtered - even though they may not have been infected with foot and mouth.

Kevin Knott, a farmer from Enstone, near Chipping Norton, has told of his sense of loss after his family's sheep on a farm in Scotland were culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

Kevin and Nicola Knott, of Litchfield Farmn, Enstone

They were destroyed and taken away on Saturday at Arkleton Farm in the Ewes Valley, near Langholm, by the army, with blood samples taken from the animals before they died.

Mr Knott said he may not know until later this week if any of the animals tested positive.

He said: "My wife and I are going round like there's a massive void in our lives.

"We don't understand it and we don't know if they tested positive, that's the worst thing.

"At some point I am going to get very angry about it."

He called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to introduce a vaccination programme to "stop the heartache" of farmers. They know it works. It's been possible for weeks and months - just do it," he said.

"The main thing is for the Government to stop dithering. If it's going to vaccinate, do it quickly."

Mr Knott told of the devastation of the small number of farm workers who tended the flock and witnessed its destruction.

He said: "It's the men in Scotland who deserve the credit for living through this. I haven't lived and breathed these things in the same way as the farm staff have. These guys are totally honest shepherds. They are the best people in the world

"I was talking to the farm manager. He says it's like losing a child, but it's worse because you watch them being killed."

The livestock culled belonged to the Higgs family, which Mr Knott married into. They have farmed at Litchfield Farm, Enstone, for 35 years. The farm was passed down to Mr Knott's wife Nicola, and her sister, Caroline Higgs. Their mother, Elizabeth Lady Higgs, lives there. In the Scottish cull, 1,300 pure-bred South Country Cheviots and 700 Blackface sheep were killed. Eighty cattle were also killed.

Mr Knott said the sheep had been trained over generations to stay in certain hills in the Ewes Valley. He said: "Whatever the compensation we get, we have now got to try to retrain the sheep which is almost impossible.

"Having had to cut back on staff over the last 20 years we don't know by whom or how that can be done."