Strawberry harvest delayed by two weeks

The UK strawberry harvest has been delayed by two weeks because of the weather, but berries are now expected to be bigger and juicer because of the wet growing conditions.

The UK is self-sufficient in strawberries from May to October producing about 230m punnets, according to the British Berry Growers.

Chambers Farm in Dartford, Kent, has installed polytunnels to help the strawberries grow.

James Miller, the farm's commercial director, said: "We haven't seen any extreme weather, such as big frosts, which means the plants aren't stressed - the fruit will be good."

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Miller said: "We're lucky to have all of our production covered, so the rain hasn't directly impacted the fruit.

"In fact, the extra rain has been good for reservoir quantity. We may have to wait a little bit longer for strawberries but they'll be bigger and riper than usual."

Almost 30,000 seasonal workers help harvest the strawberries across the UK.

Mr Miller added: "It might mean we have more strawberries for Wimbledon than we usually do."

The strawberries also get exported to Middle East, but 95% of those from Mr Miller's farm go to UK supermarkets.

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