Farmers drive tractors through Cornwall in protest

Farmers in the protest called for more support for British agriculture and protection from cheaper imports

Farmers have held a tractor protest as they called for more government support and protection from cheaper imports.

The Farmers Movement Cornwall (FMC) said it opposed "green policy overreach" and attacks on the sector.

It added farmers were "up in arms over the threat to their livelihoods" due to government policies aiming at reaching environmental targets.

The government said it would always back British farmers and "support farm businesses to grow and thrive".

FMC said it wanted ministers to focus more on how food was produced instead of on environmental issues.

The group added it was backing a campaign for changes in the government's farming policy.

The government said it would always back British farmers and "support farm businesses to grow and thrive"

Tractors drove between Arch Hill and Trafalgar Roundabout in Truro between 12:30 and 13:00 GMT on Saturday before heading into the city centre.

One protestor said farmers in England needed "our full support".

"I think it's absolutely disgraceful, these are family-run farms in the main in Cornwall and all over the country," she added.

Another person at the protest said he was worried farmers would "go out of business" and that he wanted his "food grown local".

"If there's not farmers, there's no food, and there's no future," another woman said.

Tractors drove between Arch Hill and Trafalgar Roundabout in Truro on Saturday before heading into the town centre

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used a speech at the National Farmers Union annual conference to outline government plans to boost the UK's food security.

It came as farmers were struggling with rising costs, low supermarket prices and a new post-Brexit farm payments scheme that many said had focused on environmental policy over food productivity.

In response to Saturday's protest, Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the government's updated policy would provide "more money for farmers to deliver change".

"Fair and proportionate enforcement should always underpin our regulations, but when it comes to regulation, my approach is to get farmers the support and advice they need to comply with the law and work with farmers to prevent harm," he said.