Farmers say they depend on help from seasonal workers

A government suspension of visas to people from Bulgaria and Romania has affected seasonal agricultural workers, the Home Office has confirmed.

But farmers say they depend on extra help for fruit picking and need workers immediately to avoid a crisis.

David Figgis, a farmer in Faversham, Kent, said 45 of his 80 fruit pickers last year came from Bulgaria.

'Fruit left to rot'

He said: "Last year, we employed lots of Bulgarians and the best eight were invited back this year.

"While they were employees, they were also friends - they were conscientious, reliable, helpful people."

Faversham and Mid Kent MP Hugh Robertson said: "If growers haven't got anybody to pick fruit, it will lie in the ground and rot.

"That will have enormously detrimental effects for those growers affected by it, for the supermarkets and the greater agricultural industry."

Agricultural workers' scheme

A Home Office spokesman said there was an ongoing suspension of applications from Bulgaria and Romania which still applied and which did affect seasonal agricultural workers from both countries.

He also said the Home Office was considering a reduction in the quota for the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme which allows overseas workers to undertake work on farms in the UK - the 2004 quota was set at 25,000.

Hanna Sabaleuskaya, who was allowed into the UK before the suspension and is now working in Kent, said farms and students benefited from seasonal work.

"It's a very good chance for students to come to England to earn some money and to meet new friends," she said.