The National Farmers' Union (NFU) says that nationally it's costing farmers £270 million more to produce milk than they are paid for it. The figure was revealed beside the infamous concrete cows of Milton Keynes.

The NFU's campaign has encouraged dairy farmers to complete invoices of the actual costs involved in producing milk.

Spokesman Gwyn Jones said:

"We need a fair share of the profits made by supermarkets and processors passed back to farmers.

"There is hope - markets are strengthening, consumer demand is increasing and more than ever people are questioning the ethics of food sourcing by retail chains. But the message is clear - we need to value our milk producers or face losing them forever."

The NFU figures follow a recent warning by Sir Stuart Hampson, chairman of John Lewis (which owns Waitrose), that unless the UK dairy industry receives help, the country will soon have to rely on milk imports.