GREEN top milk should be given the green light before fags and beer.

Local MP David Chaytor is battling to save unpasteurised milk which he and his voters have drunk for generations.

Before Christmas, scientific advisers said such milk should be banned because of food poisoning risks.

Consultation on the report finished this week, but Mr Chaytor has now put down an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling on the Government to allow people the right to drink unpasteurised milk.

"For the last 25 years, my family and I have drunk green top milk from a local farm - and we are all in rude good health!" said the MP for Bury North.

"I know that many of my constituents also drink unpasteurised milk, and a lot of them have written to me saying that they want to retain the right to do so.

"There are many local farmers who produce and sell unpasteurised milk and cannot see why they should be made to stop."

Mr Chaytor has written to food safety minister Jeff Rooker urging him to allow green top milk to remain on the market.

"Of course raw cow's milk can sometimes contain harmful bacteria, but in my view the risks of drinking green top are minimal and constitute a far smaller risk to health than tobacco or alcohol," he said.

"The Government has a duty to protect consumers, but we have to be careful that we don't nanny people. I hope that common sense will prevail."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.