The Treasury is blocking the widescale use of the Army to help combat the foot-and-mouth crisis on cost grounds, a senior Tory claimed last night.

Nicholas Soames, the Tory MP for Mid Sussex and a former armed forces and agriculture minister, said the involvement of the Army to date had been feeble.

More than 200 Army personnel have so far been deployed to Devon and Cumbria to help advise civilian contractors on the disposal of slaughtered animals.

Mr Soames said he believed financial considerations were preventing more from being done.

"The situation is very nearly out of control, and the Government's response, to deploy the Army isn't anywhere near what is required to deal with this crisis," said Mr Soames.

"I think it's not happening over the usual Whitehall row over money. The Ministry of Defence are obliged under Government accounting rules to charge MAFF fully for their services.

"I believe MAFF are facing a huge compensation claim which they will have to claim from the contingency reserve, and I suspect the Treasury have said you are not to use the Army, it's just too expensive."

The Treasury have rejected the Mid Sussex MP's claims.

A spokesman insisted: "Mr Soames is completely wrong and his claim is completely untrue. The deployment of troops is not an issue in which the Treasury has been involved at any stage."

Yesterday the Prime Minister announced a multi-million pound rescue package for the countryside, as 45 new cases of the disease were confirmed.

Yesterday's toll was the highest daily total so far and took the total of confirmed cases to 394.