NORTH west farmers may lose thousands of pounds each day after missing the May 16 application deadline for the new Single Farm Payment subsidy scheme.

More than 30,000 farmers across the country could be counting the cost of lost payments for every day that their application is delayed, warns a north west-based adviser at UK Top 20 accountants Saffery Champness.

Initial reports sourced from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), suggested that as many as 30,000 of an estimated 140,000 of the UKs eligible farms may have failed to apply on time.

Late applicants now face a four per cent cut from their entitlement for each working day that their application is received post May 16, with the final deadline for acceptance of applications being June 10.

Commenting, Mike Harrison, a partner at the north west office of Saffery Champness, said: "It is very concerning to us that, if the figures quoted by DEFRA are accurate, so many applications are still outstanding.

"The financial implications alone for late applicants are pretty stark. For example, the farmer of a 500-hectare arable farm could realistically expect a total subsidy of around £100,000 this year."