China has at long last lifted it's ban on British beef following the BSE or 'mad cow' crisis in 1996, in a monumental move estimated to be worth £250m in the first five years alone.

The lifting of the ban follows several years of site inspections and negotiations between government officials.

Defra Secretary Michael Gove said the UK can now be a "truly outward" nation outside of the EU due to the standard of the food and farming industry.

"The lifting of the ban is the result of painstaking and collaborative work by industry and the Defra team over many years," Mr Gove said.

"Today’s milestone will help to unlock UK agriculture’s full potential and is a major step to forging new trading relationships around the globe."

AHDB international market development director, Dr Phil Hadley said the move is an "important milestone" in growing UK meat exports.

"We now look forward to seeing UK beef exported to the country for the first time in over 20 years. We will now begin the work on the export protocols and approvals to allow commercial shipments to begin," Dr Hadley said.