An East Lancashire turkey farmer has said he is worried his free range turkeys will remain unsold after what he called “scaremongering” about a shortage.

Paul White, owner of Paul's Turkeys in Laneshaw Bridge, near Colne, said he has only sold three per cent of his turkeys so far this year, and some media coverage and major supermarkets are to blame.

Earlier this week consumers were warned of a “big, big shortage” of British free range turkeys.

Half of the free range turkeys produced for Christmas in the UK have already been killed in the bird flu epidemic, British Poultry Council chief executive Richard Griffiths told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

While Paul acknowledges there are fewer free range turkeys this year due to avian flu, he wants the public to know many small scale farms and businesses, such as his own, remain unaffected and require customers' support.

The former Pendle councillor, whose farm won a silver award at the British Farming Awards, said: “We’ve definitely lost business due to these articles.

"The big supermarkets and producers are absolutely crippling the small businesses.

“There definitely is some scaremongering going on.

“There are less free range birds available, there is no doubt about that, but your local producer will still tend to have them.”

Paul says the news may be driving customers to the supermarket to buy a frozen turkey out of fear they will be left without this Christmas.

He said: “People will be worried they won’t have a turkey so they will buy whatever is available now, which is probably a frozen turkey from a supermarket.

“People just want to make sure they’ve got a bird in their freezer.

“Supermarkets don’t care about us, they just care about getting a large volume of people through their door and that’s exactly what they are doing.

“The supermarkets have compounded what has already been a really difficult year.

"There have been tears, stress and worry and now the supermarkets have taken away our customers and target market.”

Paul says the recent news has impacted his business and he has only sold 15 turkeys, out of his rafter of 500, so far.

This is compared to the entire group of 250 turkeys the business “sold fast” in 2021.

Paul said he is more worried about this recent news than the ongoing bird flu spread.

He said: “I can say with certainty there is no shortage on our farm and our birds are selling slower than they ever have.

“We are now more worried about whether we will sell them than about bird flu.

“So much care and attention has gone into raising our birds.

“We care about our animals and raise and sell them ourselves.”

Paul is urging people to continue supporting local farmers, business and butchers this year.

He said: “So many people have sent me the news articles about there being 50 per cent less birds and they are so worried.

“I just hope we can spread the message to enough people before its too late.”

“If people want a free range turkey contact your local butchers and have a shop around. There are plenty of free range turkeys around.”

You can order a Christmas turkey by visiting the Paul's Turkeys website.