UK bird flu outbreaks prompt tough new restrictions on farms

Farmers found to be breaching new biosecurity rules face unlimited fines or three month prison sentence

Poultry keepers across England, Scotland and Wales are facing tough new lockdown-style measures on their farms to control the spread of bird flu.

It follows outbreaks of a highly pathogenic" H5N8 strain of bird flu in Cheshire, Devon, Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire over the past two weeks. The outbreaks have been found in wild bird populations and two broiler chicken farms, where all the birds are being culled.