Another case of bird flu has been discovered at a poultry farm near Diss in what is the fourth confirmed case near the town this month.

A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza was confirmed in commercial premises near Diss on Friday (December 30).

A 3km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone were put in place around the premises.

It comes after traces of the disease was found in commercial premises near Shelfanger on December 20, and two other bird flu cases were confirmed in commercial poultry near Redgrave, on December 8 and 11.

Poultry farms and other bird owners are under orders to keep their birds indoors throughout the county.

The UK is currently in the midst of its worst ever outbreak of the disease.

Hundreds of thousands of commercial birds have been culled as a result of the nation's worst-ever epidemic of avian influenza - with many disease hotspots in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The recent cases illustrate the continuing threat from the disease - although the pace of the outbreak has slowed since its peak in autumn.

Norfolk recorded more than 40 cases in October alone, sparking the culls of hundreds of thousands of chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks as East Anglia became the national epicentre of the epidemic.

But although the region's case numbers are now much lower, farmers and backyard poultry keepers have been warned to maintain strict biosecurity during the high-risk winter season, when the return of migrating birds brings the potential for more outbreaks.

Chief vets have enforced a mandatory housing order to bring all birds indoors, and the government offered a support package in October which includes allowing farmers to be paid compensation from the outset of planned culling rather than at the end, to "help stem cash flow pressures".

But calls have been made for faster and retrospective compensation or the culling of flocks, an urgent review of shutdown periods for affected farms, and an extension of a derogation which allowed for turkeys, ducks and geese to be slaughtered early and frozen so they could then be defrosted and sold to customers between November 28 and December 31.