FARMERS emptied a supermarket's shelves of milk in protest at the price they are paid for the liquid.

Some 15 farmers descended on Asda's store in Portrack Lane, Stockton, to demonstrate about falling milk prices on Friday afternoon.

The farmers took part in a so-called Milk Trolley Challenge which sees farmers removing all cartons of milk from shops including Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi and Asda which they say are failing to pay a fair price.

Among those taking part in the stunt was Yarm dairy farmer Richard Craggs.

He said: "We filled out trolleys with all the own-brand milk in the shop and bought it using out own money.

"We then handed out leaflets to shoppers outside the store and told they there was no milk left.

"We said they could have some of the milk we bought in return for a donation to the Great North Air Ambulance."

Mr Craggs said many shoppers were happy to donate more than the cost of the milk in store.

"We proved a point to the supermarkets - that people are prepared to pay more for the milk.

"At the moment we're losing 8p a litre on the milk we produce - and we're the lucky ones. Some people are losing 14p a litre."

Mr Craggs said this timer it was the supermarkets' fault, rather than the milk processors which have been blamed previously for falling milk prices.

"Supermarkets are telling processors they want say 20,0000 litres of milk but they they say we are only prepared to pay so much - the processors have no choice but to sell it to them for that price."

He said the farmers intended to target nearby Morrisons, but were told at the last minute that they had agreed to talk with farmers about milk prices next week so instead they visited another supermarket they say does not pay enough for milk.

Dozens of Milk Trolley Challenges have taken place across Britain, including Cornwall, Lancashire, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Elsewhere farmers have blockaded Morrisons distribution centres in Somerset and Cheshire.

Arla, Britian's biggest milk co-operative, previously announced a price cut of 0.8p per litre - taking the standard litre price to 23.01p for its UK members.

Farmers estimate that it costs between 30 to 32p to produce each litre of milk, meaning they are losing almost 10p per litre.

A spokeswoman for Arla said the co-operative is "acutely aware" of difficulties farmers are facing.

"We are working independently with all our customers to support our farmer owners throughout this period of global market volatility," she said.