Bird Flu has seen costs rise by 50% - farmer

Poultry and captive birds must be kept indoors from Sunday

A poultry farmer in Cheshire has said restrictions introduced due to an increase in cases of avian influenza across England will lead to financial losses.

From Sunday, bird-keepers in Cheshire, Lancashire and on Merseyside will have to house flocks indoors.

Earlier this week, bird flu was found at a site near Bromborough in Wirral - one of 33 outbreaks of the disease across the country.

Julie Judge who runs Hedgerow Henporium chicken breeders in Great Sutton near Ellesmere Port, said sales were being hit and costs had increased by 50%.

"This is our peak selling time because between now and Easter most people pick up their chickens," she said.

"After Christmas it starts to pick up again in January and it's just not happened this year.

"We do boarding of peoples chickens when they go away on holiday and I've had to cancel quite a few bookings which means that a lot of people have upset their holiday plans because they've nobody around to keep their chickens."

She said they were "drowning in eggs" because they had more birds than planned and would normally have sold more by this time of year.

Almost 1.8 million farmed and captive birds have been culled in the past three months because of the spread of avian flu across the UK.

The risk to humans remains low, with chicken and eggs safe to eat if properly cooked.

The government said it had acted quickly to cull all poultry on infected premises "to protect Britain's food security", but recognised the devastating impact it was having.

A spokeswoman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs previously said: "We know the devastating impact bird flu has had on farmers and poultry producers, which is why we have taken further measures in recent weeks, including introducing housing orders in the most affected areas."

"We have acted quickly to cull all poultry on infected premises to stop the risk of the disease spreading and to protect Britain's food security."