A NORTH Yorkshire farmer is warning that a shortage of British carrots could last until next June.

Rodger Hobson, chairman of the British Carrot Growers Association, runs Hobson Farming near Crockey Hill, York. It is the UK’s largest grower of carrots for the processing market producing more than 30,000 tonnes of carrots each year.

But he said that this year the “perfect storm” of weather conditions means he is expecting to harvest 30 per cent fewer carrots than last year, amounting to a “serious shortage” for the country.

He said: “It’s the most serious I have ever seen it. We normally plant in March and April because the longer they are in the ground the more they grow. Because of the snow we didn’t get them planted until the middle of May.

“And it’s not just the water shortage, it’s also the temperatures. The optimum is 16C to 19C.

“It’s 25C and the carrots just wilt. For the first time in four years we have not harvested for two weeks. You feel a bit useless.”