FEARS over safety standards at the Nightingale Hall Farm site have been heightened this week when it was revealed that a worker had been dismissed for breaching hygiene regulations.

The man, who worked disinfecting lorries delivering sheep and cattle slaughtered in the Foot & Mouth cull, was sacked after bosses discovered that he had not taken a shower, as required, after finishing his shift.

The news follows claims by another former worker, employed by the Meat & Livestock Commission (MLC), that standards were routinely compromised by staff recruited to ensure the disease was fully contained.

The worker was taken on as part of one of the squads working round the clock to disinfect lorries arriving at the rendering plant.

Their job was to check the paperwork, spray inside the lorries with disinfectant after the carcasses had been unloaded and then spray the wheels and outside of the wagons before they left the site.

"It's obviously very important to contain the spread of infection to ensure that these lorries are sprayed fully and that all workers should have showers after finishing their shifts," the worker told the Citizen.

A temporary portable cabin has been placed at the site to enable MLC staff to shower after their shifts but it's claimed that this wasn't always used.

"I saw at least three people leave after a shift without showering," the man told the Citizen, "it is no wonder the disease has not been wiped out. If this happens everywhere it could take forever to contain."

Other accusations of "sloppy practice" were levelled at the MLC operation. The worker said his instructions were quite explicit and that all lorries should be "spotless" before they were allowed to leave the site. He says on occasions they were "far from that" and said that drivers often seemed ignorant of the required regulations. He says a chain barrier, used to keep lorries in place until they got the all-clear, had snapped and that drivers sometimes drove off before their vehicles had been cleared.

The worker also claimed that some staff had been disciplined for smoking pot while working during the nightshifts although it's not clear whether they were recruited by the MLC, working directly for the farm's owners, Fats & Proteins (UK) Ltd, or recruited by some other agency.

A spokesman for the MLC said they took any allegations of this nature very seriously and was "disappointed" that the worker had not felt able to address his concerns to them directly.

"The Commission (MLC) takes allegations such as these extremely seriously and as soon as we were made aware of them a full-scale investigation was launched," he told the Citizen before confirming the breach of strict hygiene regulations.

Another worker, provided by a different agency, was also dismissed though nobody was prepared to discuss the reason for his sacking.

"A member of staff, employed on a casual basis at the plant by MLC was sacked a month ago for not showering. The checks in place to make sure these rules are followed worked which is how this case was identified.

"Following an extensive investigation the MLC can categorically state none of its staff was involved in anything to do with drugs.

"As to quality controls not being adhered to, the vet at the plant is extremely thorough and conscientious and has been very complimentary about the high standard of work achieved by MLC staff."

The latest news has come as no surprise to long-time campaigner against Nightingale Hall Farm, Prof John Whitelegg who commented: "It's another example of how this place is irresponsibly and badly run.

"It's irrelevant whether it's BSE, tallow, boundary issues or Foot & Mouth, it's another example that the site is poorly supervised and out of control. The handling of potentially dangerous and hazardous material should be done with the utmost care."