UK poultry producers must be allowed to earn a fair and sustainable reward for their produce, the chairman of the NFU Poultry Board has said.

Charles Bourns, a Gloucester poultry farmer himself, pointed to a combination of soaring costs and government legislation, which meant profit margins on table chicken and egg production were increasingly being squeezed.

Yet, he added that the British poultry industry was still a world leader, and had much to be proud of.

‘It is one of the best in the world, working to some of the highest welfare standards and constantly adapting to produce what the consumer wants,' he explained