A farm owner is pleading with the authorities to carry out further investigation before killing almost 500 of her animals after bird flu was identified on site.

Sophie Hayes, who runs Chookies Farm and Feed Store at Hacklinge near Deal , complied with annual checks by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair (DEFRA) to discover avian influenza - otherwise known as bird flu - may have been present.

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She says the agency then conducted tests on a further 60 samples.

A decision has since been made to humanely cull all the animals on site which includes swans, pigeons, chickens and ducks, and a hand reared goose named Laurel, who has her own Facebook page.

A heartbroken Ms Hayes, who has run the pet shop and rescue farm business for around 10 years, is asking for more time to allow a positive case to be confirmed.

She told KentOnline : "These are my babies and there's nothing I can do about it.

"If they were positive I can understand, everyone else needs to be protected.

'These are my babies and there's nothing I can do about it....'

"With a non negative result, I don't know how they can justify it?"

She continued: "I don't think it's humane to do it before they're 100%.

"Non negative doesn't mean that it's a positive. It means there's further investigation to be done.

"And it's the low pathogenic avian influenza, not the high which is the serious one. If it's that serious to kill off everything I love here, why are they waiting?"

Ms Hayes says one sample came back as non-negative but DEFRA claims initially three were positive and further investigations flagged up more cases.

A JustGiving page has been set up by Barry Bolton to 'Save Our Chookies' and other supporters are understood to have sent letters of appeal to case officers.

Meanwhile, the authority has confirmed 'Avian influenza of the H5N2 strain' has been confirmed at the site, and a 1km low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) restricted zone has been placed around the area to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

The advice from Public Health England (PHE) is that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency has made clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.

Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: “Avian flu has been confirmed at a small commercial premises in Kent.

"Immediate steps have been taken to limit the risk of the disease spreading and all remaining poultry and captive birds at the farm will be culled.

'There will be no impact on food supply as this business does not supply poultry meat or eggs to the commercial food chain.'

“Public Health England has confirmed that the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency has said that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.

"There will be no impact on food supply as this business does not supply poultry meat or eggs to the commercial food chain.

“Bird keepers should remain alert for any signs of disease, report suspected disease immediately and ensure they are maintaining good biosecurity on their premises.

“We are urgently looking for any evidence of disease spread associated with this farm to control and eliminate it.”

Dr Gavin Dabrera, consultant in acute respiratory infections at PHE, said: “Avian influenza remains an uncommon infection in humans and the risk to the UK population remains very low – we will continue working with Defra and the local Health Protection Team to monitor the situation closely.

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“Do not touch any sick or dead birds and make sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after contact with any animal.”

A detailed investigation is in progress to determine the most likely source of this outbreak.

Ms Hayes says four officials including two security guards remain on the site and she is unable to leave.

She has been told the culling will take place tomorrow or Wednesday, and has sent thanks to those who have sent her messages of support.

The UK has remained free of highly pathogenic avian influenza since September 2017.

A low pathogenic H5N3 strain of the disease, which poses no threat to human health, returned in December 2019 and was quickly dealt with by Government action.

The UK declared itself free from avian influenza H5N3 in June.

Read more: All the latest news from Deal