Alton Towers slaughtered 18 animals in its Old MacDonald's pets' corner yesterday amid fears of the current foot and mouth outbreak. Management at the attraction ordered the slaughter of a cow, three pigs, six sheep and eight goats following fears that foot and mouth will spread to the park following the designation of the surrounding region as an infected foot and mouth area. While no park animals had foot and mouth, management took the 'difficult' decision following advice from park vets that potential infection would leading to the delay of the park opening on 31 March 2001. The RSPCA, however, has commented on its disappointment at the 'drastic' action as no foot and mouth had been linked to the theme park itself. Meanwhile the ETC met yesterday to discuss the impact of foot and mouth on the tourism sector in England, with chair Alan Britten confirming that the ETC is forging a recovery plan to deal with the losses to hotels, tour operators and attractions. Britten told the Tourism Summit: Clearly the priority remains the prevention of further spread of the disease. But there's also a growing awareness that however quickly the immediate situation is resolved, we need to maintain confidence in rural tourism, given its growing popularity in recent years.