The Oxfordshire farming family caught in the middle of a bird flu outbreak have called for a better insurance scheme and for experts to develop a vaccine.

Richard Court, his wife Anthea and their son Jonathon were shattered when the highly contagious H7N7 strain of avian flu was found on their 150-acre farm.

Soon after the alarm was raised, their flock of 25,000 free-range chickens had to be slaughtered.

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) praised the family for quickly calling in vets, which officials believe stopped the spread of the disease.

But almost seven weeks after the outbreak, Eastwood Farm - between Shenington and Shutford - is still under tight restrictions.

The family feel Defra did not provide enough guidance in the aftermath of the outbreak.

Jonathon Court said: "At the moment, we're cleaning and disinfecting all of the farm.

"It's not easy, because we're not getting any help. Defra leave you to get on with it. You are inspected by a vet to determine if it's clean enough - and if it's not up to standard, you have to do it again."

The family must also carry the burden of the cost of the clean-up. Mr Court said: "Between flocks, you wash out the sheds and disinfect to get rid of any little bugs. They want it absolutely spotless, but they won't advise us or help us with the cost of it.

"But we have got to do it, because we want to restock and we never want this to happen again. It has been heart-breaking and demoralising.

"It doesn't stop. The whole thing has been hard work. We're still under restrictions, but hopefully they will be reduced and we can get back to normal. We're in limbo, because of the restrictions."

Last week, Defra announced that it had removed the three-kilometre surveillance zone around the farm, but movements in and out of the farm must still be licensed.

The family is still counting the cost of the episode, which is expected to total tens of thousands of pounds. They will only be compensated for the chickens that were slaughtered but will not receive money for the loss in egg production or the thousands of eggs taken from the site.

A Defra spokesman said: "Final cleansing and disinfection of the infected premises is the responsibility of the owners."

She said any insurance was a matter for the farming industry, not the Government.

She added: "Preventative vaccination of poultry is not considered to be the most effective defence against avian influenza, because of the disadvantages of currently commercially available vaccines.

"Early reporting, rapid action, effective biosecurity, culling and surveillance remain the most effective ways of protecting against and controlling an outbreak in poultry."