protest

FARMERS have escalated their action against supermarkets, which they say have started a price war, leading to lower farm prices.

There has been a strong police presence at the Morrisons distribution centre in Rudheath for the past week.

Around 140 farmers from across the north west descended on the centre on Thursday night last week and formed a rolling convoy with 16 tractors.

Representatives of the group, called Farmers for Action have already met with police to discuss the policing situation and are appealing for Morrisons to come to the table and discuss a settlement.

Tom Houghton, co-ordinator of the group, said: "It is not just Morrisons but all the supermarkets.

"We have already seen farm prices going down this week as a result of this.

"We have asked Chris Blundell from Morrisons to come to the table and negotiate a settlement."

But Mr Blundell said there had been a misunderstanding.

He said: "This group of farmers seems to be more keen on protesting. I have been trying to get together with this group for weeks.

"There seems to be a complete misunderstanding by this group of farmers on what the issues are."

Meanwhile Ch Insp Nick Ankers, of Cheshire Police, refused to say exactly how many police were being deployed each night.

He said: "It is important for us to balance the rights of the farmers to stage a peaceful and lawful protest and also enable companies to carry out their business unhindered.

"We have had to put resources at the site for public safety."