In another move, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards will move from Hounslow, west London, to Pirbright in Surrey.

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The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is moving research on farm animal viruses from Compton to Pirbright, Surrey.

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The 1st Battalion The Welsh Guards will move from Hounslow to Queen Elizabeth Barracks at Pirbright, and 8 Engineer Brigade will move to Minley.

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The study - which will also involve the Pirbright Institute and the universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Leeds - will investigate the virus' growth and interaction with cells.

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The potential hazards of working with viruses was underlined in 2007 when the Pirbright laboratory site was identified as the source of a leak which led to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

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"The foot-and-mouth-disease virus epidemic in the UK in 2001 was disastrous and cost the economy billions of pounds in control measures and compensation, " explained Dr Bryan Charleston, Head of Livestock Viral Diseases Programme at the Pirbright Institute.

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He's the Director of the Institute for Animal Health at the Pirbright Laboratory in Surrey, which has been doing most of the testing for MAFF and is the only place in the UK licensed to handle foot and mouth vaccine.

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Other South East bases to be affected are the Folkestone home of Headquarters 2nd (South East) Brigade, which will be vacated when it merges with another brigade, and Pirbright barracks in Surrey, which will become home to the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards.

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