The British army was on standby last night as the UK-wide total of confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth reached 205.
The Welsh Rural Affairs Minister, Mr Carwyn Jones, rejected Tory charges that "this crisis is spinning out of control" and said there was no need to deploy the army. "The situation is under control in Wales," he said.
However, in London the Agriculture Minister, Mr Nick Brown, confirmed the use of troops was now being considered as "a contingency".
The Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, urged the immediate deployment of troops and the commencement of a "slaughter on suspicion" policy.
Mr Hague said slaughter should proceed where outbreaks were suspected, and without further 48-hour delays to await confirmation.
The British government meanwhile apologised to the French as the first mainland Europe case at Mayenne fuelled fears of a Europe-wide epidemic. The affected farm in the French north-west neighbours another known to have imported lambs from Herefordshire.
Mr Brown said: "I deeply regret what has happened in France. My sympathy goes out to the French farmers who have been infected by this terrible disease. I am certain that the French government are taking the correct actions to control the disease, just as we are doing."
As Downing Street confirmed the fate of half a million stranded hill-farm ewes and lambs would be determined in the next 48 hours, Mr Brown said soldiers and police marksmen might be used to supplement the work being carried out by contractors for the Ministry of Agriculture in destroying carcasses, and might possibly be required to help with animal slaughter.
Following the Chief Veterinary Officer's warning about "the sheer logistics" of the disposal of animals as the number of confirmed cases continued to rise, Mr Brown conceded: "If the task gets any bigger we just have not got enough qualified slaughtermen to undertake it, then one possible route would be to supplement it by seeking armed services to help us."
But he made clear this was still "not a route one would want to take".
As concern mounted about the impact on the country's tourist industry, the government was considering softening its advice to people to stay away from the countryside.
At the same time Downing Street confirmed the creation of a special task force to examine the effects of the crisis and to discuss measures designed to "kick-start" the rural economy once it is ended.
Farmers in hardest-hit Cumbria continued to question government assurances that dead animals posed no continuing threat.
But as the acrid smell of burning filled the Cumbrian air as the slaughter continued, Downing Street insisted there were still no plans to cancel the May 3rd local elections as speculation persisted that the general election would be held on the same day.