A regional daily has launched a campaign to support British farmers through clearer labelling of dairy products.

The Yorkshire Post says a growing desire on the part of shoppers to buy British dairy products is being thwarted by confusing labelling rules where imports can be mistaken as being from this country.

Now it has launched its ‘Clearly British’ campaign to improve labelling so consumers can choose to support British farmers by buying their products.

As well as asking retailers to clearly label where dairy products are from, the YP is also calling on hotels, restaurants and caterers to reveal whether the dairy products they are using a British.

Agricultural correspondent Ben Barnett said: ‘Consumers say they want to buy British but they can’t if products are not clearly labelled. As dairy farmers face a struggle to survive this is more important than ever.’

The YP previously campaigned to close a loophole in the law that allowed foreign meat to be branded British – a fight that achieved success earlier this year when Brussels finally agreed to compulsory country labelling for a range of meat.

However dairy products can still be labelled as produced in whichever country they were processed last rather than where the milk is actually from.

The campaign, which has the backing of the NFU and farming minister George Eustice, includes an online petition which can be signed here.