All raw milk, butter and milk powder held at Westbury Dairies have been quarantined following an anonymous call from a farmer claiming he had poisoned milk destined for the plant.

Wiltshire police were contacted on Monday November 3 after supplier First Milk received a call from a farmer claiming he had poisoned milk heading to Westbury because he had been made
bankrupt. Westbury, which processes raw milk into butter and milk powder, immediately quarantined all raw milk and processed product following the call, said a spokeswoman.

It is working closely with police and local services to assist with enquiries.

“This is potentially a serious incident, and we have implemented all due diligence steps in order to identify and isolate the milk,” she added.

So far tests have proved negative but all product will be held at the site until further news emerges, said the company.

The NFU said the caller was “outrageous, stupid, and also ill advised” as it would be very easy to track down the source of the milk were evidence of any contamination found.

The former United Milk business was bought out of receivership last month by a consortium of three farmer-owned co-operatives.

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