The petting farm at the center of an E.c oli O157 outbreak that sickened 93 in Aug. 2009 and left several children seriously ill will not be disputing liability in the legal case against it, lawyers have said.

Seventy-six of those taken ill after visiting Godstone Farm, near Redhill, Surrey were children under the age of 10.

Law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, which is representing 27 children affected by the outbreak, said it had received confirmation from Godstone Farm that it would not be disputing liability in the case.

Two of those worst affected were twins Todd and Aaron Furnell (right, exactly as shown) now aged three, who became infected with the bug while on a school trip to the farm. They suffered kidney failure and spent several weeks in hospital, leaving Todd with 80% kidney function and Aaron with just 64%, the law firm said.

A report released in June last year found there were numerous failings in the way the farm handled the outbreak, the largest linked to an open farm in the UK, and in its appreciation of the risk associated with E.coli O157.