POLITICIAN Oliver Letwin today warned that a cattle disease could deal a killer blow to West Dorset farmers who are already facing a fight to keep their businesses going.

He claimed the dairy industry could be wiped out if herds of cows fall prey to an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis.

Mr Letwin, MP for West Dorset, warned of the crisis in a speech to the House of Commons.

He said: "The dairy farmers in my constituency are, and I do not think that this is hyperbole, on the brink of extinction.

"The situation has moved from bad to worse. The possibility of a serious national level of bovine TB is not merely or mainly a problem for farmers as it will have ricochet effects on the customers."

Shadow home secretary Mr Letwin added: "It is all too likely that the killer blow to the dairy industry in West Dorset and large parts of Britain could come from that source.

"This is even if the scale of the outbreak were much more limited than would justify such a disaster."

Mr Letwin's comments came after the national BSE and foot and mouth crises dealt hammer- blows to farming in West Dorset.

He insisted that dairy farmers could be driven out of business unless action is taken to lift pressure upon them.

The MP also called for early vaccination of cattle to guard against the disease and produced a wish- list of 16 actions drawn up by the National Farmers' Union in Dorset.

He named five in Parliament - including a special TB hotline and a priority slaughter system for affected cattle.

Other measures were a revamped system to allow easier movement of stock between farms under restriction, better information for farmers and revamped sale and storage conditions.

He said: "I hope that the minister will explain that DEFRA will attend urgently to the interim problem of farmers in West Dorset and elsewhere who are likely to go out of business."