Brexit: East Anglian turkey farmers warn of Christmas shortage

Turkey farmers are warning they may struggle to process enough birds to meet demand at Christmas.

Producers said new temporary visa changes allowing more foreign workers to help process the poultry may be too late.

Mark Gorton who runs Traditional Norfolk Poultry said he was short of staff and may not be able to process all his turkeys in time.

Some big scale processors said they had already cut back production.

According to the British Poultry Council, Christmas turkey production has dropped by 20% because of staff shortages.

Latest Defra figures show that farms in the east of England provide 21% of the nation’s poultry.