AN ultimatum has been served on an Exmoor farmer trying to prevent officials taking away one of his cows from a new-born calf he fears will die without its mother.

Michael Reed has been given until Tuesday (May 28) to comply with a notice from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), an executive arm of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

APHA wants to take away and slaughter the cow following a TB diagnosis three days before it gave birth to the calf.

Mr Reed, who has isolated the animal from his herd, wants it to be able to suckle its calf for at least four months to give it the best chance of survival.

He threatened to blockade his farm at Higher Ranscombe, near Wootton Courtenay, to prevent officials reaching the Hereford Cross cow.

Now, APHA veterinary advisor Juan Velarde has given him until Tuesday to allow the animal to be removed and slaughtered, or police and animal handlers would be sent in to enforce compliance.

Mr Reed said: “It is an ultimatum. It is like we are in a dictatorship.”

But he feared he would not be able to prevent the cow being taken.

Despite tests confirming TB in the animal, Mr Reed said he had not seen any of the usual symptoms of becoming thin, coughing, and drooling at the mouth.

Mr Reed said the big issue for farmers was that currently there was no prevention, no treatment, and no cure for bovine TB.

He said: “There is no vaccination, no treatment, it is not a very happy situation.

“I want the scientists to wake up and find a cure for it.”

Mr Reed took on the farm from his parents John Reed and Betty Reed (nee Webber), who moved there in 1947.

He is now calling for a National Agricultural Disinfecting Service to be set up which could work throughout the country to help farmers disinfect buildings and pens every three to five years to improve biosecurity.

Mr Reed said: “I would be happy to pay something toward a service like that to get some help.”