A woman has spoken of her anger after her two-year-old twin sons were admitted to hospital with kidney failure following an outbreak of E.coli at a petting farm.
The toddlers are among dozens of victims of the bug which broke out at Godstone Farm in Surrey. There are now fears that tens of thousands of children could have been exposed to the infection since it was first identified in August.
Speaking from her home in Kent, Tracy Mock said: "I'm just so angry that they allowed the place to stay open. I heard on the news that cases were reported there on August 27 and 28, yet we went there on August 31."
She added: "Why wasn't it shut down before then? If it had been, my two boys wouldn't be in hospital on dialysis. If the public health authority didn't think it should've been closed, then Godstone Farm should've done it themselves," the 39-year-old said.
The twins - Aaron and Todd - are now being treated at St Thomas' Hospital, in central London, along with two other children. They are said to be in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of the E.coli outbreak. More than two weeks after the first case was reported, teams were conducting tests in and around animal pens in a bid to identify the source of the bug.
Experts believe larger animals such as pigs, sheep, horses or goats could be at the centre of the outbreak at Godstone Farm in Surrey.
Dr Graham Bickler, regional director for the Health Protection Agency in the South East, said: "Health colleagues have taken samples from animal faeces and we are now waiting to see what they find."
Environmental health officials were conducting a range of "sample" tests on the premises.
