United Milk hopes to sell the plant as a going concern

The United Milk plant in Westbury, which had an annual turnover of �100m, was part-funded by dairy farmers themselves and is the largest milk processing plant in the UK.

About 200 to 300 farmers are understood to supply milk to the plant, and they have not been paid for the past six weeks.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed as administrators, and it is hoped that the plant can be sold as a going concern.

One dairy farmer, David Hubbart, told the BBC: "It came quite out of the blue. We were led to believe that the company was doing well.

I can assure producers that the NFU is in contact with all of the major parties involved and will be doing everything possible to secure the best outcome for dairy farmers Sir Ben Gill NFU chairman

"Now all of a sudden there is nothing there. Everyone is dumbstruck. I am owed �30,000 and am a shareholder: that will not happen again."

Built in 2001, the plant was billed as the most modern of its kind in Europe, able to handle 5% of the UK's total milk production.

It cost �45m to set up and farmers had a hand in its running.

But United Milk got into difficulties after it began trading from a new plant, which left it with insufficient cash to continue running.

Joint administrative receiver Roger Marsh said: "We shall be holding urgent talks with suppliers over the course of the next few days and believe that with their support we have the best chance to try and secure a future for the plant."

NFU

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said it was shocked by the news, but added that it understood PwC's primary objective for the immediate future of the plant was to keep it open and receiving milk to process.

NFU president Sir Ben Gill said: "This situation is deeply regrettable for all those involved.

"It is clearly important that an adequate supply of milk is now provided for the company going forward.

"I can assure producers that the NFU is in contact with all of the major parties involved and will be doing everything possible to secure the best outcome for dairy farmers."