Official reports have confirmed at least one case of the bird flu virus on a British duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the risk to public health was “very low”. The poultry is being culled and a 10 kilometre (6 mile) exclusion zone is in place.

DEFRA officials have confirmed the outbreak it was investigating was the H5 virus, and added that the H5N1 form, deadly to humans, has been ruled out.

A DEFRA spokeswoman said: “We have confirmed a case of avian flu on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire. The public health risk is very low and there is no risk to the food chain."

She added: "A detailed investigation is on-going. We have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK.”