MPs piled in on the side of Britain’s struggling dairy farmers yesterday with calls for their protection against wild price changes and new powers to fine supermarkets.

A Commons food and rural affairs committee report into the state of the buckling industry accused the government of not doing enough to protect producers from the battering of international markets.

“Frequent, sharp and unpredictable rises and falls in milk price are driving dairy farmers out of business every week,” warned chair Anne McIntosh.

Britain still produces 80 per cent of its own milk, but farmers are struggling because commercial buyers have forced down prices in line with drops in global trading values.

But Ms McIntosh warned that watchdog the Groceries Code Adjudicator was unable to intervene in cases where unfair deals were struck.

“She can only investigate complaints involving direct suppliers to the big 10 supermarkets and retailers and, as most milk production is small-scale, that excludes most dairy farmers,” said Ms McIntosh.