Watch: Police called as Shropshire dairy farmers take milk protest into stores

A group of about 20 farmers cleared the shelves at Asda in Telford town centre yesterday. People were queuing up in their cars to collect the free milk from the farmers on the car park.

Police were called to a separate protest in Oswestry last night when about 50 young farmers and their supporters removed all the dairy produce from the shelves of the town's Morrisons store.

They then set about putting the milk in the water aisle at the store to show that the 89p price for two litres of milk was cheaper than bottled water.

It follows a trolley dash held in Shrewsbury's Morrisons and Asda stores on Monday night and further action across the UK in areas such as Devon, Cornwall and Scotland.

Farmers say they are being paid almost nothing for the milk they produce, so they might as well buy the milk and give it out to customers for free. They hope it will help raise the issue with retailers and make the public aware of their plight.

It comes after dairy firm Arla reduced the amount it pays farmers by 0.8p to 23.01p per litre, a rate which came into force on Monday. It was the latest in a series of price cuts by dairy firms to their suppliers.

Michael Oakes, vice-chairman of the NFU's national dairy board and a rep for the West Midlands region, said the idea for the Asda protest was agreed during a meeting at the NFU's office in Telford.

He said: "We agreed that we would pay for our milk and then give it out to the customers for free. By doing this we hope to send a message to consumers about the drop in milk prices and how it is affecting us.

"We wanted to do something that would get the public on our side, and we think that by doing this it helps create awareness without frustrating them. Asda is one of the main culprits for lowering their milk prices, and I hope the head office in Leeds hears about what we have done here and act on it."

Andrew Bebb, who farms at Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, said: "I feel like the whole protest has gone down well and been a success. I just hope that by doing this it helps people understand what we are going through, and they will help support us.

"We are getting so little for our milk that we may as well come here and give it away for free. The public has been so supportive, and the readers of the Shropshire Star along with the paper have continued to support us, so thank you to everyone for that."

Dairy farmer Neale Sadler of Wem said: "This protest was all about raising awareness and making people understand the drop in the price of milk. With the drop in prices, farmers' incomes have reduced by £35m and it's not just affecting us but other industries as well."

Rob Newbery, the NFU's regional director, said the union was supporting the protests as long as the demonstrations were legal and had a proper target and clear objective.

He said: "As an industry we have reached a critical point where producers simply cannot continue to make these levels of losses.

"Further price cuts are difficult to stomach and many are receiving well below the cost of production. This is simply unsustainable for many businesses."

Asda customer Sean Longford, 30, from Ketley, who was at the store during the demonstration in Telford, said: "I fully support the farmers with this and I hope it works out for them." In Oswestry, protesters left the store when asked to. They then held up banners and chanted "Morrisons, you've been milked" at the front of the shop.

Chris Roberts, 27, who works on his family farm in Maesbury, said: "It is our future that we are protesting for. It costs between 27p and 30p to produce a litre of milk and we are being paid 22p for it."

Sally Roberts, 20, from Oswestry, who lives on her family farm, said: "Milk is now cheaper than water to buy in the shops. That can't be right. We are here to support the dairy industry."

A spokesman for Asda said its milk was supplied by the Arla farmer co-operative which is owned by farmers. "There is no link between retail prices and farm-gate price," he said.

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium said supermarkets were not to blame.