Farmers in England will be allowed to take livestock directly to slaughter from midnight tonight, the British government said today.
It is a relaxation of the strict rules imposed following the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Surrey last week.
Britain's chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said movement of animals to slaughter "will be allowed in England under strict biosecurity rules and general licence".
She said the relaxation followed evaluation of the risk of movement of animals.
The lifting of the restriction applies only to animals outside the surveillance zone currently imposed around the infected premises in Surrey. It means cattle, sheep and pigs can be moved directly from farms to listed abattoirs, or from farms to abattoirs by an approved collection centre or slaughter market.
Dr Reynolds said: "We continue to take a risk-based, staged approach to movement controls. It is essential that all animal keepers, hauliers, abattoirs and those responsible for collection centres follow stringent bio-security measures and all licence conditions."
Dr Reynolds said laboratory tests had confirmed that the virus found at Stroude Farm near Egham, Surrey is the same strain as that which infected the first herds in the current outbreak and the two herds in Pirbright last month.