RELIANCE on imported foods is on the up with new figures for the first six months of 2018 revealing some £23bn of consumable products were shipped in, further highlighting the UK's declining self-sufficiency.

The figures, from HM Revenue and Customs show 21m tonnes of food was imported into Britain, which included £5bn worth of meat. Of this, some £392m worth of chicken was received made up of 43% from the Netherlands; 17% from Poland and 10% from Ireland.

Surprisingly, even more beef was imported, with £425m worth coming in from Ireland, with pork shipments accounting for £171m.

The long-term decline in food production in Britain continued, with figures showing some £5.4bn worth of fruit and vegetables was imported between January and the end of June. As a result, some 19% of British fruit and veg now comes from Spain, with a further 11% from Netherlands and 5% from South Africa.

And, despite Britain's over supply of potatoes, figures show £155m worth from the Netherlands and a further £115m were imported from Belgium.

Add to that, £52m of seeds from Romania; £12m of olives and capers from Greece, and £3000 of Liechtenstein wine and it comes as no surprise that Britain produced just 60% of its own food in 2017.