Poultry to be culled after bird flu outbreak

A business at Dalton-in-Furness is the latest to have bird flu confirmed (stock photo)

A cull of birds is to be carried out after an outbreak of avian flu was confirmed at a commercial poultry business.

The government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the "highly pathogenic" (HPAI) H5N1 illness had been found at premises near Dalton-in-Furness, south Cumbria.

A 1.8-mile (3km) protection zone has been put in place, which means all poultry and captive birds in the area must be housed.

A surveillance zone of 6.2 miles (10km) has also been declared with a record needing to be kept of all poultry and eggs which leave or enter premises within the area.

It comes after two outbreaks were confirmed elsewhere in the county, at Penrith, last month at Wetheral in September.