The National Farmers' Union has warned that 'the very fabric of the countryside is being completely torn apart' following today's publication of government figures showing a further 15,000 job losses from farming in the UK.

The figures show the biggest exodus of farmers from the industry since World War II. They reveal that 8,600 farmers have shut up shop, and a further 6,600 farm workers left the industry in the 12 months to June 2002.

The four per cent drop in the workforce takes total job losses from the industry in England alone to more than 67,000 in the past six years.

NFU president Ben Gill said: 'Throughout the crisis farmers have been forced to make staff redundant, work increasingly long hours, or even take on a part-time job to keep the business going.

'These figures show that for many there are no other savings to be made and for the first time we are seeing a greater number of farmers than workers leaving the industry.' The NFU says the foot and mouth outbreak, the collapse in farmgate prices, the strength of the pound and heavy-handed regulation by the government have all contributed to the crisis.

Gill said: 'Our profitability has collapsed because of falling farm incomes and ever rising regulatory costs. Farmers want to become more focused on the market, they want to become more integrated in the food chain and they are prepared to compete with others.

'But when they see their European competitors doing so much better, it is little wonder that they are increasingly angry at the lack of progress in the delivery of an environment in which they can change and in which they are treated proportionately by the regulators.'