Archive Article: 1997/09/26

26 September 1997

ENGLANDS apple and pear industry is on the brink of collapse, with the prospect of huge job losses, growers told junior farm minister Lord Donoughue when he visited Kent on Wednesday.

Severe frosts in the late spring destroyed about two-thirds of the countys top fruit crop. "We predict as many as 50 to 100 businesses will be facing bankruptcy this year," said Paul Turner, NFU fruit adviser.