Bird flu suspected at Suffolk poultry facility

Up to 23,000 chickens are expected to be culled after a suspected case of bird flu in Suffolk.

A control zone has been set up around Bridge Farm in Redgrave, near Diss, after the H5N8 Avian Influenza virus was identified, the government said.

A number of birds at the Banham Poultry-operated facility have already died and the remainder are to be humanely culled, officials said.

The Food Standards Agency said it was not a food safety risk to consumers.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said investigations were continuing into "the nature of the virus detected and to establish the possible source of the infection".

Banham Poultry, one the region's biggest poultry producers, said it did not own the farm but manages it.

It said the site did not produce meat but was a breeder farm.