A GROUP today demanded an end to the use of poultry waste as fertiliser on farmland around Holmfirth, amid fears over bird flu.

Animal rights campaigners say they have evidence of tons of poultry waste being dumped on fields around the Summer Wine area.

The waste - traditionally used as manure - is alleged to contain rotting bird carcases and feathers, as well as tons of faeces.

The Netherlands and France are expected to be given European Union today permission to start vaccinating poultry flocks against bird flu.

Barring last-minute hitches the controversial decision will be taken by EU veterinary experts who have been meeting in Brussels for two days to consider stepping up controls as the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus spreads across Europe.

Locally, Animal Aid experts say there are fears that bird flu can be spread through faeces.

Photos of the mounds of rotting waste have been released by Animal Aid as part of its hard-hitting campaign.

Members say it has been spread on farmland around the Holme Valley by local poultry farmers.

"It is a practice which we accept has gone on for years, but we must question its use now," said Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler.

"The Holmfirth discovery illustrates that poultry waste - swept from sheds that hoard scores of thousands of broiler birds - is spread on to fields in Britain, too, after the inhabitants are removed and taken for slaughter.

"As well as faeces, the waste contains decomposing carcasses of some of the birds who died from disease or emaciation during the six-week production period.

"Salmonella, campylobacter and listeria are among the pathogens found in the sheds.

"The Government has been conned or bullied into shifting the blame for avian flu from where it belongs - with the intensive poultry industry - on to wild birds."

"The sheds are breeding grounds for disease and wild birds feed off waste spread around the fields."

A Government agriculture spokesman said: "The avian flu virus has not been found in domestic poultry.

"This waste-spreading should not be a cause for concern.

"If there are concerns about the waste they should be referred to the local environmental health department."

A spokesman for Kirklees Council's environmental services said it had received complaints about the smell of the waste, not the contents.

He added: "If the waste was found to contain rotting carcases there could be an offence."