As many as 279 staff at a dairy owned by the unsuccessful Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB) co-operative lost their jobs, as the diary closed on Friday, June 12. DFB had 1,800 farmer members supplying more than a billion liters of milk to the food and drink industry, which would comprise 10% of UK production.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said withdrawal of customers had forced the shutting down of the diary.

Joint receiver and manager of DFB, Stephen Oldfield said: "There is, of course, much concern given the number of jobs involved but the extent of the continuing losses and the lack of a credible funded buyer made the decision to close unavoidable."

Stephen further said that the diary was making "significant losses" after customers dragged their support for the dairy.

According to the sources, customers have been informed of the shutting down of the diary and PwC have urged local competitors to help them find another dairies to supply milk from the coming week.

The shutting down of the diary hit its network of farmers on the head. Many farmers have lost even their life savings.