Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

10 Powers of entry etc. in connection with s. 9

(1) In relation to any disease to which section 9 of this Act applies the following persons are authorised officers for the purposes of this section, namely—

(a) an officer of the Minister or of the Secretary of State ;

(b) a veterinary inspector; and

(c) any person who, not being such an officer or inspector, is authorised by the Minister or the Secretary of State to exercise the powers conferred by this section.

(2) Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting, in the case of any area, that there exists among the wild members of any species in the area a disease to which section 9 of this Act applies, he may enter any land in the area and—

(a) take samples of the wild members of that species, or of their excreta, or of any materials (whether or not forming part of the land) with which wild members of that species may have been in contact;

(b) carry out any other investigations which he considers necessary for the purpose of determining, as regards that species and that disease, whether an order under section 9 of this Act should be made in respect of the whole or part of the area in question.

(3) An authorised officer may at any time enter any land in the area to which an order under section 9 of this Act applies for any of the following purposes, namely—

(a) to carry out the destruction of any wild members of a species to which the order relates that may be on that land;

(b) to take any such measures as are mentioned in subsection (8) of that section ;

(c) to ascertain, as regards any wild members of a species to which the order relates, whether destruction has been effectively carried out.

(4) Where in pursuance of an order under section 9 of this Act destruction of wild members of any species to which the order relates has been carried out on any land in the area to which the order applies, then, for the purpose of—

(a) ascertaining whether the land has been or is being recolonised by wild members of that species and, if so,

(b) whether there exists among them the disease to which the order applies (or, if the order has been revoked, to which it previously applied),

an authorised officer may enter the land and take such samples of or relating to that species as are mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above; but the powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable at any time more than two years after the revocation of the order in question.

(5) Nothing in this section shall authorise any person to enter a dwellinghouse.

(6) A person entering any land in the exercise of powers conferred on him by this section shall, if so required by the owner or occupier or person in charge of the land—

(a) produce to him some duly authenticated document showing his authority ; and

(b) state in writing his reasons for entering.

(7) Without prejudice to subsection (6) above, an authorised officer—

(a) shall not demand admission as of right to any land forming part of a nature reserve (within the meaning of section 15 of the [1949 c. 97.] National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949) maintained or managed by the Nature Conservancy Council under section 1 of the [1973 c. 54.] Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973 unless seven days' notice of the intended entry has been given to the Council; and

(b) in exercising any of his powers under subsection (2), (3) or (4) above on any such land shall, as far as possible, do so in accordance with such reasonable requirements for minimising damage to flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features within the reserve as may have been notified by the Council to the Minister or, in Scotland, the Secretary of State.

(8) The preceding provisions of this section are without prejudice to any powers conferred on inspectors or others by or by virtue of any provisions of the [1950 c. 36.] Diseases of Animals Act 1950.