First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday appealed directly to the Prime Minister for a relaxation of livestock drivers' hours in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Mr Salmond also called on the government to fund an animal disposal and compensation scheme for Scottish farmers unable to sell or export their livestock.
His appeal, in a letter to Gordon Brown, which spells out the "extremely serious and immediate" animal welfare problems north of the border, came as tests showed the latest outbreak of the disease in Surrey is the same strain as in all the other recent cases.
Animals at The Klondyke farm were culled on Monday after testing positive for foot-and-mouth. It was the fifth farm found to have infected livestock since the disease re-emerged in August.
The temporary control zone imposed around a farm near Solihull, West Midlands, was lifted last night after tests on animals for foot and mouth disease proved negative.
Mr Salmond claims the fall-out from the crisis in Scotland has been compounded by the "intransigence" of the Department of Transport. In his letter to the Prime Minister, he writes: "There are two things we need to alleviate the severe problems being faced now.
"First is an immediate relaxation of drivers' hours to enable the backlog of stock arising from the early August outbreak and the September one to be cleared.
"Second, I have no doubt that a livestock welfare disposal scheme with compensation to farmers fully funded by the UK Government is essential."
Mr Salmond also spelled out the human consequences of the situation, specifically for hill farmers who would normally gain about 70% of their total income this time of year.
The Scottish Government yesterday announced that farmers will now be able to move animals up to 8kms within a single farm business.
The relaxation comes in the wake of completion of direct tracings of animal movements from Surrey.
The First Minister warns that continuing to restrict drivers' hours in Scotland could have a knock-on effect as many hauliers work in other parts of the UK later in the season. Industry chiefs want the current 90-hour a fortnight restriction on livestock hauliers to be temporarily replaced by a maximum 56-hour week.
Mr Salmond said: "There are potentially disastrous consequences for Scotland if the UK Government fails to provide the limited derogation that we have requested."
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