The UK government has brought in a temporary ban on holidaymakers bringing in cheese and meat products from the EU in a bid to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD).

Travellers have not been allowed to bring back items such as cured meat and cheese, including in sandwiches, since Saturday due to the growing outbreak on the continent.

The restrictions apply regardless of whether the goods are packed or packaged, or bought from duty free.

It follows an earlier ban of similar products from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria after rising cases of the cattle disease in those countries.

FMD is a highly infectious virus that causes blisters inside an animal's mouth and under their hooves, and can cause lameness and problems feeding.

It causes no risk to humans and there are currently no cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

Any products of animal origin, like meat and dairy, could potentially be contaminated with FMD.

There are concerns that if contaminated products enter the UK, even if they are designed for human consumption, there is a chance that they could be consumed by animals – for instance if they are thrown away in a way that could come into contact with foraging wildlife or domestic livestock.

The restrictions apply to people arriving in Great Britain, not Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man.

Products will be seized and destroyed if people try to bring them in, and in "serious cases" people could be fined up to £5,000.

The list of restricted products includes:

• pork

• beef

• lamb

• mutton

• goat

• venison

• other products made from these meats, for example sausages

• milk and dairy products like butter, cheese and yoghurt

People can bring up to 2kg per person of powdered infant milk, infant food, or special food needed for medical reasons.

A council has defended its decision to twin with an occupied city in the West Bank.

In a full council meeting held in May, Brent Council in north-west London voted to twin with Nablus to promote "cultural, social, economic, and educational exchanges".

Since then, a petition has been set up against the move, saying the twinning did not give due regard to the effects this decision would have on all of its residents.

But Labour council leader Muhammed Butt said it "was not taken lightly" and that it "followed a period of public engagement, including a petition signed by more than 2,000 residents".

In an email response to residents, Butt said he wanted to "acknowledge the pain and trauma that continue to affect Jewish communities both here in Brent and around the world following the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th".

He said the decision to twin did not represent "support for any political group or administration in Nablus".

"Rather, it reflects Brent's humanitarian values and a desire to connect with ordinary people in another part of the world who, like us, strive for peace, education, dignity, and progress for the next generation," he said.

Nablus sits in the West Bank, a landlocked territory illegally occupied by Israel in a war in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has controlled Gaza, while Fatah administers areas in the West Bank.

The two groups are rivals; the Hamas movement was founded to challenge the Fatah-led Palestinian Liberation Organisation and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Fatah has recognised Israel, said it renounced terrorism in 1988 and seeks a two-state solution for a Palestinian homeland; Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.

Since then, more than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The chief of the Channel Islands Co-operative has called for the Jersey and Guernsey governments to work together.

Mark Cox said the governments choosing two different ferry providers had "added complexity and costs" within the freight and supply chain.

His comments followed the CI Coop's annual general meeting on Wednesday at which a 2% dividend rate for members was confirmed.

Mr Cox said the business had returned to profitability in 2024 after a £1.8m loss in 2023 but that "if we want to be serious about reducing costs then the islands have to work together".

'Immediate benefits'

He attributed the return to profitability to CI Coop's new member pricing initiative and investment into seven pharmacies.

Mr Cox told BBC Radio Guernsey members had been concerned about the pharmacies at a time when dividends had been reduced but their performance had been "exceptional".

Mr Cox said the new in-store savings scheme for members had been "a real success" and had delivered more than £1m savings to them since it was introduced in October.

He said members had to wait a year for dividends and they had told CI Coop they wanted "something a bit more immediate" so the member pricing scheme had been launched.

"Of course we'd love to get back to a 4% dividend rate but I think that balance between delivery of a share of profit and giving immediate benefits is really important," he added.

Dividends were available to be collected at CI Coop member services desks but there could be delays over the next few days, he advised.

Mr Cox said the past few weeks had been "nothing short of horrific" after the recent cyber attack and resulting goods shortages.

Hackers infiltrated the Co-op UK group's IT networks and claimed to have stolen the customer and employee data of more than 20m people.

He said: "We've not been at our best over the past couple of weeks as a result of that cyber attack but day by day now we are seeing more products come in.

"We will recover, we'll bounce back and we will look at opportunities to reward members for their patience in this difficult time."