PIG farmers from Dorset joined a national rally in London to protest about falling pork profits.

They descended on Westminster to demonstrate against what some have called industry meltdown'.

Pig farmer Jeremy Barber sent two of his staff yesterday.

He keeps 200 pigs on Portland and 300 at Seaborough Manor, near Beaminster.

He said the protest marked a disastrously worrying time' for him and other Dorset breeders with soaring feed prices and no increase in profit.

Mr Barber said: "There's a lot of coverage of Fairtrade issues now so why can't English farmers be treated in the same way?

"All we want is a fair price. Farmers are losing between £20 and £35 a pig and there are people going bankrupt. At the moment British pork couldn't carry a Fairtrade label."

Mr Barber said his feed costs had almost doubled to £232 per tonne in just 18 months.

West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin met with concerned farmers from his constituency after yesterday's demonstration. He said falling pork profits were a long-running issue in Dorset.

"Farmers are trying to compete with meat producers in places like Denmark and the Netherlands where animal welfare standards are lower so meat is cheaper to rear."

He said the Government should be working to raise animal welfare standards in other countries across the EU to make pork sales more fair.

A petition calling for more support for pig farmers was presented to Downing Street and a cross party Early Day Motion has been tabled on the issue.

Farmers have warned there may be a pork shortage by the end of the year because of the number quitting the industry.