Are traditional Shropshire Sunday roasts under attack?

But now it is the Great British Sunday roast which is under threat, according to a Shropshire MEP.

Ukip's Bill Etheridge has turned up the heat after the EU announced new rules restricting the power of gas and electric cookers, which come into force next month. The new rules have led to a simmering row about whether they will be powerful enough to cook the traditional Sunday lunch.

Mr Etheridge claims the after-dinner coffee could also prove to be a lukewarm affair, as the new rules will also be extended to cover filter coffee machines. Under the regulations, which come into force on February 26, electric hobs will be set power limits, while ovens and gas hobs will be required to comply with minimum energy efficiency measures.

The rules will get progressively more stringent over a five-year period, although there will be a 12-month transitional period where higher-powered appliances will be allowed to remain on sale.

EU officials insist it will cut waste and improve value for money. Stuart Phillips, executive chef at The Hundred House at Norton, near Shifnal, is not convinced, saying it is more needless interference from Brussels.

"It would be a complete disaster to make them less powerful," he says.

"You need to cook things by making them hot. If you need to set your oven at 150 degrees to cook something, there is no alternative but to do that, and if you don't need to do that you will not want to use all that power. If you use too much power you will make it all black and burnt.

"Nobody needlessly uses power for the sake of it, it really is a nonsense."

Mr Etheridge called for the proposals to be scrapped.

"I think these barmy bureaucrats must be drinking too much coffee," he says. "These plans should be consigned to the pedal bin.

"Coffee lovers will have to keep switching on their percolators to keep their espresso warm and I expect chefs will also get hot under the collar as a result of these ridiculous rules. The EU should simmer down and stop meddling in our everyday affairs."

• Straight bananas. The EU infamously set standards for the curvature and length of bananas.
• Brandy butter. In 1998 the EU said products called butter must contain a minimum of 75 per cent fat – sparking fury that Christmas would be ruined.
• Swings. In January 2003, a playground’s swings were claimed to be too high and that the parish council could be sued if a child was injured.[/breakout]

A European Commission spokesman said: "These policies save money, help tackle climate change and reduce energy imports from Russia and the Middle East."

Patrick Baker, who runs the Wolverhampton-based Capital Appliances chain, which has branches in Telford and Shrewsbury, says the growing raft of EU regulation has led to more complicated and less reliable equipment.

"All gas rings now have to have a flame failure device, which cuts off the gas supply if the flame goes out," says Mr Baker. "That sounds like a good idea, but they go wrong and they are quite expensive to replace.

"You get people with only one gas ring working if they can't afford the repairs. We managed 100 years without these devices, but now they've decided we need them."

Measures which came into force on New Year's Day require computer modems, TVs and other appliances to go into standby mode if they are not doing anything for several minutes.

And before rules were introduced last year banning vacuum cleaners using more than 1,600 watts, there was a big rush as shoppers tried to snap up existing models to beat the ban.

Vacuum cleaners face a further reduction to 900 watts by 2017.

British vacuum cleaner maker James Dyson, whose company pioneered bagless models, says many could use less power without losing their ability to clean.

But he said there were many issues other than the size of the machine to take into account and he feared that some cleaners would be rated badly and lead the consumer to buy one that was not efficient.

The new rules are also expected to affect hairdryers, irons, kettles, toasters and lawn mowers in a move which the European Commission says could save households £32 a year each on their average energy bills.