Another 50 Limousin cattle and 158 descendants from the Fotheringham family's Ballinloan Limousin herd from Dunkeld, have had their passports removed following an investigation by authorities.

Add to that the 74 cattle deregistered last year from the herd and their 432 head of progeny, and some 714 head of Ballinloan Limousin cattle have been striped of their passports.

Question marks still surround the pedigrees of 15 sons and daughters of the illegally imported semen from the French bull, Jacot, and the fact that one son, Mereside Lorenzo, has 767 head of progeny in 200 pedigree herds.

Michael Cursiter, chairman of the British Limousin Cattle Society told The Scottish Farmer, he felt sorry for the people who had bought descendants.

"Our original plan was to wait until after the Ballinloan court case before making a final decision on the cattle as we thought more information would become available then. However, we felt we had to bring some closure for the people who have bought such cattle when the case is taking so long to come to court."

The Ballinloan cattle were deregistered either for having the wrong parentage, age or a mixture of both. Three have been reinstated but a further 17 remain 'on watch.'

The latest number of deregistered cattle affect 18 herds of which 15 are commercial units with just three being pedigree.

Mr Cursiter added that the situation with Jacot and his progeny was "completely different."