On one of the rare sunny days in August my sister went to a farm in Surrey for the day.
All the children had a lovely time stroking the sheep, going on pony rides and pretending to be farmers, and afterwards they couldn't stop talking about their brilliant day out. At Godstone Farm.
Understandably, my sister is now nervous, particularly as symptoms of E coli can take a while to materialise. It's a watch-and-wait situation.
The opposite, in fact, of what the Health Protection Agency should have done. They should have closed that farm the minute there was an inkling of E coli instead of waiting until last Saturday and exposing so many children to such a dangerous illness. When they failed to do so, the owners of the farm should have taken the decision themselves.
My heart goes out to those families whose children are seriously ill with E coli after their trip to Godstone. One of the parents is reportedly planning to sue.
I'm sure she won't be the only one.
written by Liz Jarvis