A FARM village in London Colney has confirmed that it is still safe to visit despite recent outbreaks of E.coli across the country. Four petting farms have closed in the wake of the E.coli outbreaks at Godstone Farm in Surrey earlier this month, where nea

A FARM village in London Colney has confirmed that it is still safe to visit despite recent outbreaks of E.coli across the country.

Four petting farms have closed in the wake of the E.coli outbreaks at Godstone Farm in Surrey earlier this month, where nearly 60 people, including ten children, are believed to have caught the disease.

But Willows Farm Village on Coursers Road has reassured visitors that it is still perfectly safe to visit their petting farm and has urged people not to be put off by the fact that there was an E.coli outbreak at the site in 1997.

Three children contracted the disease form the London Colney site when it was Bowmans Open Farm, including four-year-old Tom Dowling who nearly died after catching it on a school trip to the farm.

A Willows Farm spokesperson said: "We'd like to remind visitors that Willows Farm Village has always been separate from Bowmans Farm. Whilst there will always be risks associated with handling farm animals, we work closely with our local Environmental Health department and take all possible measures to minimize those risks."

Precautions taken by Willows Farm include not allowing visitors to enter animal enclosures, supervising all animal handling and providing hand-washing stations throughout the site for people to use after touching animals and before eating.

The spokesperson added: "At Willows we pride ourselves on the standards of cleanliness and hygiene throughout the site. Visitors to any farm should ensure they adhere to normal hygiene guidelines such as teaching children about the importance of thorough hand-washing.