UK households will be hit by further increases in food prices if European Parliament proposals to restrict use of crop protection substances are accepted, according to a new report by Sean Rickard of Cranfield University.

He says that the proposals, which are predicted to remove 85% of agricultural pesticides, would lead to a doubling in retail price for daily staples like potatoes and vegetables, with a 3p increase on a litre of milk, 9p on a loaf of bread and 40p increase on a kilogram of pork.

That is without taking into account food price rises already hitting consumers as a result of unpredictable harvest yields and the growing global demand for food.