PROTESTERS keen to force a rethink on current farming methods paraded down Ledbury High Street dressed as giant vegetables last Saturday.

As part of a 'fancy dress trek', they handed out leaflets calling for a GM-Free Herefordshire and a national Real Food Charter.

Frank Hemming, spokesman for Herefordshire Friends of the Earth, which, with the GM-Free Herefordshire group, organised the trek, said: "The charter contains the essential ingredients to rescue farming in Herefordshire. We need to ensure the viability of our small farms in particular, with the development of new and more local markets.

"All farmers in the county should have the option to avoid contamination by GM crops. A GM-Free Herefordshire would help to secure a future for the county's agricultural produce."

GM crops have already been planted at various locations in Herefordshire, including Stonehouse Farm at Kempley last year, as part of a Government trial. GM crops were also grown in Preston Wynne last year.

The new Friends of the Earth charter calls for an end to the growth of GM crops in the UK "until their safety and need are proven". It also wants an end to pesticides in food, a third of all farmland to be organic by 2010 and more support for local producers and markets.