LANCASHIRE County Council was today accused of threatening the future of dozens of Ribble Valley farmers after it insisted it would push ahead with plans to evict a dairy from its land.

The National Farmers Union said that 'dozens' of milk-producing farms in the Ribble Valley would be 'flooded out by their own milk' if JE&A Taylor dairy, based at Pollards Farm in Penwortham, is forced to close.

It has been threatened with closure following a legal dispute with their landlords, Lancashire County Council, which has led to the dairy's owners - Joseph Taylor, 78, and his two sons Eric, 50, and Andrew, 40 - been given just five weeks to leave. The legal row had been rumbling on for 14 years.

The firm has taken milk from farms across the Ribble Valley since 1962 and the NFU today warned that unless the county council withdrew its threat, farms across the Valley would be put at risk because they'd have too much milk with no-one to supply it to.

NFU North West's Regional Director, Terry Abbott, said: "It seems a great tragedy that a successful business like JE&A Taylor should be threatened with closure and with the loss of more than 50 jobs.

"The business has operated on its current site for decades and a closure will have serious consequences for many Lancashire dairy farmers who are already having to operate in a sector where the pressures are immense.

"Dozens of farms locally, including many in the Ribble Valley, will suffer financially as a result because their milk will be worthless because it has nowhere to go."

NFU North West's dairy commodity board chairman, Mr Ray Brown added: "This is an extremely desperate situation for all concerned and the NFU will be doing all it can to support the dairy farmers in trying to find solutions."

Farms affected in the Chorley area have already met county council leader Hazel Harding.

Andrew Taylor said: "The farm takes in milk now from over 100 and often small family-run dairy farms. Lancashire has always prided itself on its high quality but small family firms producing quality products." A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "Mr Taylor has been aware for the last 14 years of the need to relocate to carry on his business. This has come as no surprise either to him or the users of the business."

East Lancashire MPs Nigel Evans and Lindsay Hoyle have both raised the issue in the Commons, claiming 300 jobs could be lost across the county.

Mr Evans said: "What we are asking for is a stay of execution so a new site can be found where there won't be the same problems and Taylors can move and stay in business enabling the dairy farmers who supply them to do the same."