RESIDENTS around a Hampshire landfill site that could be used to bury animals from the foot and mouth cull face another four weeks of anxious waiting.

The site at Squabb Wood, five miles north of Romsey, has not been used yet but the government said it would not rule out dumping carcasses there if needed.

A spokesman said that, even though laws relating to non-infected animals would be eased on Monday, there was a huge backlog of animals needing to be slaughtered.

"As of Monday, if animals within infected areas do not have signs of foot and mouth disease or aren't on contiguous farms (farms next to infected farms) they can be slaughtered in an abattoir in that area," he said.

"But no reduction is expected because there is a backlog of 800,000 animals for our scheme. We are slaughtering about 200,000 animals a week so it will take us four weeks to clear the backlog."

He said that if Squabb Wood had not been used by the end of next month then it was likely that it would not be needed because the scheme would be wound down.

With 123 additional sites ready to take carcasses, including Squabb Wood, the chance of carcasses coming to Hampshire could be even smaller.

The owners of Squabb Wood were due to hold a meeting with nearby residents this morning where they plan to relay that information.

A company spokesman said: "Given the developments today with regards to the changes the government has made the stream of that kind of material will ease."

Resident Ellen Maton said she was hopeful, but cautious.

"It's great if that's what's going to happen but you can't be sure until all the animals are gone," she said.