The E-coli inquiry into the deaths of 21 people yesterday heard details of procedures in butcher John Barr's Wishaw shop, and suggestions that key errors may have been made by the authorities in the early days of the outbreak.

The inquiry heard that the eight members of staff in the butchery department were given no training about how to prepare cooked meats.

Water in the boiler used for cooking was not necessarily changed from cooking load to cooking load; no probes were used to test the temperature of the meat being cooked; and bakery - rather than butchery - staff would often begin the cooking process at 5am.

Mr Barr's butchery manager, Mr Robert Hepburn, 41, said he believed a washing fluid used to clean equipment and workplaces could kill bacteria because the packaging said it was ''bio-degradable''.

He also said he could have provided a full computer list of all the outlets Barr supplied, had he been asked, in the early days of the outbreak.

He said that, after a visit by environmental health officials to Mr Barr's house in Overtown on November 22, 1996, Mr Barr summoned him to the house with other managers.

Mr Hepburn said that all cooked meat was to be withdrawn from sale before the shop opened next morning, but no mention was made of cooked meats supplied to other outlets which would still be on sale in these outlets.

He said that Mr Barr himself knew about the order of cooked meat supplied to three Scotmid stores in the Forth Valley area.

Previously the inquiry heard claims that the seven deaths in the Forth Valley could have been prevented, had Mr Barr told environmental health officials that he supplied to Scotmid.

Cross-examining, Mr Paul Cullen, QC, representing Scotmid stores, asked Mr Hepburn about the late-night meeting at Mr Barr's house on November 22.

''Was there an atmosphere of crisis in the house that night?'' Mr Hepburn: ''When we arrived, yes.''

Mr Cullen said that cooked meats would have been supplied to other outlets earlier that day, and added: ''Given what you were discussing, in an atmosphere of crisis, did nobody say, well, what about cooked meats which have been supplied to others?'' Mr Hepburn: ''Not to my knowledge, no.''

Mr Cullen put it to him that this would have been a ''natural'' and ''obvious'' issue, since a decision had been made to stop selling suspect cooked meat from Barr's premises.

Mr Hepburn said: ''I don't know, I didn't think of it.''

Mr Dennis Crawley, representing Wishaw Old Parish Church, said to Mr Hepburn: ''You were shutting the stable door, but the horse has already gone during the week - is that right?'' Mr Hepburn said: ''Yes. I didn't think about any other meat that had gone out prior to the Saturday.''

Referring to the washing product used to clean the butchery area of the shop which had the word ''bio-degradable'' on the packaging, Mr Crawley said: ''You thought bio-degradable meant that it kills bacteria?'' Mr Hepburn, who worked for Barr for eight years, said: ''Yes.''

Mr Crawley asked: ''If someone had come to you in November 1996 and said 'We need to get in touch with your customers', could you have done it?'' Mr Hepburn replied: ''Yes, I could have given them a computer print-out.''

Earlier Mr Hepburn said that environmental health officers who visited the shop on Saturday November 23 spoke with him for only a couple of minutes. He said he was not interviewed by them fully until the following Monday.

Mr Hepburn told the inquiry he believed a full list of outlets supplied by the Wishaw butcher could have been available on the Friday evening of the initial visit by environmental health officers.

Sheriff-Principal Graham Cox asked Mr Hepburn whether, if his employer had told him there had been a serious outbreak and to come to the shop with ''a team'' to prepare a full list of suppliers, that could have been done.

Mr Hepburn replied: ''Yes, I think that could have been done.''

Earlier, the butchery manager told how staff working practices had changed after the outbreak.

''There was segregation of cooked meats from raw meats. Those who were going from raw meat to cooked meats wore a different uniform.''

Mr Hepburn also admitted that he knew nothing about cross-

contamination until the outbreak, but said that as an experienced butcher he was aware of the importance of washing tables and machinery in between their use for raw and cooked meats.

The inquiry continues.