Farmers chewed over major issues facing their industry at a breakfast meeting with MPs.

Members from the National Farmers Union’s Braintree and Colchester branches met Braintree and Halstead MP Brooks Newmark and his Witham counterpart, Priti Patel, for a breakfast meeting yesterday.

Chris Butler, who hosted the event at his Greenstead Farm in Greenstead Green, said issues raised included the importance of local produce, sustainability and the potential drought facing the area if rainfall continues to be low.