A Castlemorton farmer may have to grub up his orchard or risk losing valuable subsidies.

Roger Jakeman, who has run Taylor's Farm for around 50 years, is one of many fruit farmers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire facing the same dilemma.

The threat comes from a change to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which replaces all previous subsidies with a new Single Payment Scheme of £340 per hectare.

Under the scheme, owners will only receive payment for land classified as farmland, a category which excludes orchards.

Although orchard owners have never received subsidies directly, those who graze livestock in them, as Mr Jakeman does, have previously been able to claim payments for mixed use.

As this will no longer be the case, Mr Jakeman will have to grub up his 300 plum trees and find another use for the five acres if he is to qualify for the Single Payment Scheme.

"Small farms are going to lose out," he said. "We should have the money as everybody else does. We've been getting it before so why shouldn't it be the same now?

"It's not going to ruin me but neither is it going to help me."

There is particular concern at the affect the reforms will have on apple growers, who are being encouraged to grub up their traditional orchards in order to receive the payment.

Ann and Norman Stanier, of Dragon Orchard, near Ledbury, said that while they would not be grubbing up their orchards, as they are subsidised by a community share scheme, it was bad news for orchard owners in general.

Mrs Stanier said: "We were hoping there might eventually be some funding for orchards and now it appears probable there isn't.

"It's absolutely devastating. We've already lost 70 per cent of our orchards over the last 70 years anyway. Is this going to be the death knell of them?"

The issue has been taken to Parliament by Herefordshire MPs Bill Wiggin and Paul Keetch. Worcestershire MEP Liz Lynne has also spoken out on the subject

Mr Wiggin said: "Such a beautiful and productive feature of our county should be protected rather than grubbed up."

The Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) says that the reforms will reconnect farmers to their markets, lead to good environmental practice and reduce bureaucracy.