Farmers and cows in milk protest at Cheshire supermarket depot

Farmers gathered on tractors and even brought along cows for support

Farmers have blockaded a supermarket's depot in Cheshire to protest about milk prices.

About 100 farmers - many driving tractors - and three cows gathered outside Morrisons distribution depot in Middlewich on Thursday evening.

Farmer Mike Gorton said if business did not pick up he could be "out of a job" by Christmas.

Retailers said prices were going down because of a drop in the global demand and an oversupply of milk

'Prized product'

Mr Gorton, from Lower Alderley, said it cost 24p to produce a litre of milk and farmers were getting 16p in return from retailers.

He urged customers to "pay more" so that he could survive another winter.

Around 100 farmers blockaded a supermarket's depot in Cheshire during a milk price protest

Phil Latham, vice chairman of Cheshire's National Farmers' Union, said: "We've got intense competition between the supermarkets which are having their own competition for footfall and because milk is such a prized product by consumers they are devaluing it in order to move footfall to their stores."

However, the British Retail Consortium said retailers were "not to blame".

Julian Bailey, spokesman for Morrisons, said: "We've asked our processors, the business we buy milk from, we've asked them not to take any further price reductions.

"Of course we will help farmers where we can and we are talking to the National Farmers Union about how to move forward."