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French calves are being imported to be slaughtered and incinerated for compensation, it emerged yesterday. Under the European Union scheme, boosted in the UK to compensate British farmers hit by the BSE scare, French farmers are sharing the pounds 103 payment per calf with British importers and slaughterhouses.

As more than 300 live French calves arrived at a slaughter house, the RSPCA described the practice as an "absolute disgrace". The animals arrived on a chartered livestock ship at Southampton and were taken by lorry to an abattoir in Warwickshire. The calves will not be used for food, but will be killed, their carcasses immediately rendered and the remains incinerated.