The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced last week that it has revoked the licence of a slaughterman following the publication of footage showing abuse taken by animal welfare charity Animal Aid. The footage, which shows pigs suffering abuse, was taken at Cheale Meats in Essex.

The FSA said that it revoked the licence of one of the slaughtermen identified in the film immediately after the footage came into its possession. The agency said the second slaughterman who featured in the footage was in possession of a provisional licence, which has now expired. It said it would not renew his licence.

Furthermore, the FSA said it would increase the level of monitoring its staff carry out at the Essex plant. Although the business subsequently dismissed both slaughtermen identified in the film from its employ, the agency expressed a desire to ensure procedures are being followed correctly at the site.

However, the agency revealed that in this case it is unable to take legal action. It said it is not responsible for prosecutions in this area; since 2010, when Defra decided that it would not be appropriate to rely on evidence provided by a third party and which it could not obtain under its own statutory powers in seeking prosecutions, it has been unable to prosecute in such cases.

In a statement on the abuses recorded at Cheale Meats, an FSA spokesperson said that, because the only evidence available was the footage submitted by Animal Aid, Defra would deem the evidence insufficient and the agency had therefore decided not to submit a file to Defra for consideration.