A Gittisham farm shop has found a fresh way to avoid the pitfalls of the UK’s current dairy market - by selling home-grown raw milk.

The bottles have been flying off the shelves at Bartlett’s Farm Shop, which is manned by sisters Nicola Blackmore and Rebecca Bartlett.

The pair has seen a surge in demand for raw milk – and the shop is producing and selling around 100 litres a week.

The milk is produced by husband and wife team Leonard and Angela Bartlett and their son, Jack.

Jack said: “There is a demand for raw milk.

“People are getting to know that raw milk tastes so much better and the health benefits of it are becoming more widely known.

“It also enables us to take more control over our product.

“We are at a time where milk prices and the amount we sell to big suppliers is completely decided by the supplier.

“At the moment it is costing us more money to produce the milk than we are being paid for it. That is not how it should be.

“Selling our own raw milk, although a very small venture at the moment, does give us a sense of control as to where our milk ends up and what we get for it.”

The process of making raw milk is pretty simple and hygienic.

The cows’ milk goes straight to the farm’s ‘bulk tank’ after the milking process. There, it is filtered and cooled instantly, before being bottled straight from the tank into one litre cartons each morning.

It is then put into the shop to be sold that day.

To pick up a bottle of raw milk, pop into Bartlett’s Farm Shop in Hayne Farm, Gittisham.