Farming around Blackburn sits in a tight band between town and moor. Within a few miles of the ring road you can be on a hill farm above Tockholes, a suckler herd at Mellor or a sheep holding on the edge of Darwen Moor. Blackburn fallen stock collection has to work for all of them, from the urban-fringe grazier with a handful of ewes to the established family farm running cattle and sheep on the moorland edge.
Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved collector based in Burscough, West Lancashire, offering fallen stock and ABP collection across the borough of Blackburn with Darwen and the surrounding Ribble Valley. We are members of NFSCO, and same-day collection is often available when a loss is reported early.
Blackburn fallen stock collection across Blackburn with Darwen
The farming landscape around Blackburn
Blackburn’s livestock farming is shaped by its hills. To the south and west, Tockholes and the Roddlesworth valley run up onto Darwen Moor, with rough grazing, walled intakes and the reservoir catchments that dominate this part of the West Pennine Moors. To the south-east, Belthorn sits high on the moor edge with exposed sheep ground. West of the town, Pleasington and the River Darwen valley give way to better pasture, and to the north-west the ridge at Mellor looks out over Mellor Brook toward Samlesbury and the lower Ribble. North of the town, Wilpshire marks the start of the Ribble Valley proper. The official guidance on fallen stock and safe disposal of dead animals sets out the legal duties in full.
Most holdings run sheep, suckler cows or both. Many are small or part-time, with land rented around the edge of the built-up area, and grazing that is overlooked by houses, footpaths and dog walkers. That mix means fallen stock is often found by someone other than the farmer, and a carcass left in a field near a footpath quickly becomes a complaint to the council.
Your legal duty when an animal dies
On-farm burial and burning of fallen stock have been banned since 2003. On reservoir gathering grounds the ban matters even more, because a buried carcass close to a watercourse is exactly the kind of pollution risk the rules were written to prevent. Farmers have a duty of care to arrange collection promptly, ideally within 24 hours of discovery. The government also publishes detailed guidance on animal by-product categories and disposal.
If a bovine dies, you must notify BCMS within 7 days and return the passport. Cattle over 48 months need a BSE test, and Martlands is a DEFRA approved sampling facility, so the testing requirement is handled as part of the collection. If you suspect a notifiable disease, report it to APHA immediately and do not move the carcass until you are told it is safe to do so.
Book through our farm and fallen stock collection service and every collection comes with a Commercial Document and a Waste Transfer Note for your records.
Getting a vehicle onto moorland farms
Access is the practical issue that decides how quickly we can reach a farm around Blackburn. Lanes up to Tockholes, Belthorn and the moor-edge farms are narrow, steep and walled, and in winter they can be icy or blocked by drifting snow long after the M65 is clear. Before you call, think about where a collection vehicle can safely stop and turn. If the animal died on the open moor or a steep intake, moving it to a hard-standing point near the yard gate, on a trailer or with a loader, will save time and avoid a vehicle getting stuck.
For lowland farms toward Pleasington, Mellor and Samlesbury, the A6119 ring road, the A666 and the A677 give good routes, and the M65 links the borough to the rest of East Lancashire. Tell us when you book if there is a weight limit on a bridge, a low railway arch or a gate narrower than usual, and we will plan the route accordingly.
Storing a carcass until collection
When an animal dies, cover it with a sheet to keep off crows, foxes and dogs, and keep it away from watercourses, field drains and the yard where healthy stock are handled. On land near houses or footpaths, a covered carcass is far less likely to cause distress or a call to environmental health. Do not leave a carcass in a building used for feed or bedding. Collection away from your livestock buildings also reduces the risk of carrying disease onto the farm on vehicle wheels.
Categories for sheep and cattle
Adult sheep and cattle carcasses that contain specified risk material are Category 1. That includes cattle over 12 months and sheep over 12 months or with a permanent incisor erupted, which covers most ewes and suckler cows. Our Category 1 ABP collection handles these. Younger lambs and calves, and other species such as pigs and horses, are generally Category 2 and are collected under our Category 2 ABP collection. If one load contains both, it is treated as the higher-risk category. At lambing time, when several dead lambs or ewes may need collecting together, this is worth understanding because it affects how the load is documented.
Neighbouring areas we cover
Blackburn’s farms run straight into those of the surrounding towns, and many farmers rent land across borough boundaries. Directly south we provide Darwen fallen stock collection for the farms around Darwen Moor and the A666 corridor. To the east, our Accrington fallen stock collection covers the Hyndburn uplands, while to the north our Clitheroe fallen stock collection serves the Ribble Valley beyond Wilpshire and Whalley. Across the wider county, our Lancashire fallen stock collection reaches from the Fylde to the Pennines.
Blackburn fallen stock collection records and assurance
Keep every Commercial Document with your medicine and movement records. Red Tractor assessors will want to see that fallen stock was removed by a licensed collector, and for cattle your BCMS notification should match the date on the collection paperwork. Our booking runs through the KoLeCt system, which keeps each collection logged. For upland flocks with higher winter losses, a clear paper trail also helps your vet investigate whether a run of deaths has a common cause.
To arrange Blackburn fallen stock collection, call Martlands on 01704 776977 or book online through our contact us page. Reporting a loss early in the day gives us the best chance of collecting the same day.
