Farmers in Oxfordshire who have seen their incomes dry up because of the foot and mouth epidemic are calling for restrictions to be eased.

National Farmers Union south-east representatives met Alison Parker, regional director of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which is the successor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

The NFU claims that restrictions are still in place because the Government has not formulated a plan for the future of the industry.

The department's regional veterinary officer Gareth Jones was questioned closely by farmers at Monday's meeting.

Mr Jones assured farmers that he had staff lined up ready to collect blood samples from livestock on south-east farms.

However, he said that the over-burdened Government laboratories were not currently in a position to deal with further tests - a major disappointment to farmers present.

NFU south-east policy adviser, William White, who attended the meeting, said: "We had hoped that on a regional level, Defra would be making proposals for the future, but there didn't seem to be much evidence of a plan for the medium term.

"Even tougher times for farmers are likely to emerge from this crisis unless an action plan is formulated quickly.

"This part of the country has been disease-free for some time now and greater flexibility is required so that farmers can return to normal trading conditions."

The meeting also discussed the subject of calf movements - a key issue with calving soon to be in full swing and dairy farmers needing to move young calves into purpose-built buildings, often on separate holdings.

Meanwhile, reports of high pollen levels in the region being connected with the foot and mouth outbreak because farmland has not been grazed - allowing weeds, grass and wild flowers to grow freely - have been discounted by experts.

Julie Tidmarsh, from the National Pollen Research Unit said that high counts had been a continuing trend for the past few years.

She said: "The settled weather is the major reason why pollen counts have risen.

"Mild winters and wet springs have produced excellent conditions for the growth of grasses, and now a hot settled summer is creating the high counts.

"Foot and mouth may have an effect in places such as Cumbria, where there have been a lot of outbreaks. But in areas like Oxfordshire where there have not been many at all it would have had little effect."

The count in Oxfordshire has been up to ten times its normal level in recent days.