HEAVY rain in recent weeks has caused a drastic shortage of strawberries in the Leigh area.

And as strawberry-loving Wimbledon tennis fans suffered from its worst weather for years with rain stopping play, so too rain stopped play at Kenyon Hall Farm in Croft, one of the main suppliers of strawberries in the region.

Owner Tod Bulmer estimates the losses amount to between 30 and 50 percent of that in normal years.

And that, he said, means as much as 50 tons of strawberries valued at between £60,000 and £100,000.

Mr. Bulmer said: "The first two weeks of our season were so wet that we have lost a lot of produce and a lot of money compared with a good year, and that means there will inevitably be a shorter season that normal this year. Most people expect to see an abundance of strawberries during July but they are going to be disappointed.

"If means, also, that if retailers put up prices of strawberries because of the shortage they will find people in Leigh buying something else instead, so we will all lose.

"But all isn't lost because we still have a couple of weeks left yet and if the warm weather stays with us we can pull something back and will still have some nice strawberries to sell."

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