DAIRY farmers in the New Forest have had to pour away thousands of litres of fresh milk because tanker drivers could not get out of their depots in snowbound areas.

Edmund Kane, 36, has had to dump almost 10,000 litres of milk from his herd at North End Farm at Harbridge near Ringwood because Wincanton Transport drivers could got get on the road because of the snow and ice on the Hampshire/Berkshire border.

And National Farmers’ Union secretary Chris Whitlock said he knew of two other forest dairymen who have encountered similar problems.

Mr Kane said: “We’ve dumped about 9,000 litres so far.”

He had feared he would have to dump more milk over the weekend but a tanker managed to get through to him on Friday.

The milk he had to pour away was worth about £2,500. Under the terms of his insurance he is not covered for such a loss, but if the cold snap continues, the cover kicks in.

He is concerned not just for himself, but for others in the dairy industry.

He said some farmers were “still reeling from the failure of Dairy Farmers of Britain” which went into receivership early last June “and this could be the tipping point for them”.

Farmers did not realise until now how stretched local authorities are, he said, warning: “Supplies are going to dwindle if the weather continues this way.”

New Forest NFU secretary Chris Whitlock said he knew of two other New Forest farmers who had to pour away 4,000 litres each time there was no tanker collection.

“I think it’s happened twice. It’s hard earned money. Just to tip it down the slurry pit is galling,” he said.

“It’s a rare occurrence but maybe it’s something that you will see in the future.”