Together the companies have around 6,100 sows with 50,000 progeny, and 90 contract producers/finishers.

The two main creditors are the HSBC bank and feed companies ABN and AMRO and contractors are unlikely to receive payment of the money owed to them. A buyer is being sourced for the pigs through appointed administrators Grant Thornton of Leeds. They have assured that feed will continue to be supplied to the pigs currently being reared on site.

Rocked

Britain's National Pig Assocaition says the news has rocked the UK pig industry. The crash is not believed to have come about entirely as a result of the currenlt feed price crisis, but is connected with the another company York Foods, a value- added enterprise which was associated with DRS and was unprofitable.

However, a source said that if the pig price was expected to rise by as little as 5p (€0.06) in the next few weeks, then a way forward could have been found for the pig company and business partners.