Irish sheep farmers have attacked Marks & Spencer for stocking New Zealand lamb at a time when their income is plummeting.

More than 200 angry Irish farmers protested outside Marks & Spencer's flagship store on Dublin's Grafton Street to highlight their plight.

They gave away meat from 12 specially-butchered lambs to shoppers, saying they'd rather do that than accept the low prices offered by abattoirs.

The protest was organised by the Irish Farmers' Association and led by its president, Padraig Walshe, who said it was unacceptable that Irish producers were facing losses of €12 (£8.14) per lamb.

He complained that store labelling did not make clear where the lamb came from, denying Irish consumers the opportunity to buy local product.

The retailer, which uses the 'This is not just food... this is M&S food' tagline, admitted one labelling blunder, but refuted allegations that it did not support local farmers. Irish spring lamb would be on sale in its 13 stores across the Republic this week, which was five weeks earlier than last year, it claimed. The company's sales of Irish products had increased 53% in the last 12 months, it added, and it was "committed to an 'Irish first' sourcing policy".

However, it promised to remove any misleading signs from lamb products and to switch to 'country of origin' labelling, though a spokeswoman acknowledged "this may take a little time to complete".

She declined, "for commercial reasons", to detail how much lamb was sold in the Irish stores, or the level of imports.

The company's 494 UK stores will be switching to domestic lamb a week or so later than Ireland- on

4 June, according to a spokeswoman. "We are planning some form of in-store décor to support it, but I can't offer further details at this time," she said.

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