FARMERS' leaders have reacted angrily after they were blamed by the water industry for polluting rivers.

The Country Land and Business Association in Yorkshire has accused water companies of living in a glasshouse and throwing stones.

Their defence of farmers came after Pamela Taylor, chief executive of Water UK and the person who speaks for all the country's water companies, attacked agriculture's pollution record and called for tougher regulations.

The association's Yorkshire director, Dorothy Fairburn, said: "Water UK appears to be trying to put all the blame on farmers for polluting Britain's water with pesticides and chemicals.

"But more than half the phosphorus comes from sewage treatment works operated by the water companies themselves.

"Road run-off and amenity use is not mentioned. Is this criticism of farmers a smokescreen to mask the industry's own deficiencies?"

She went on: "It is a fact that the quality of this country's rivers and streams has improved enormously in recent years.

"According to the Environment Agency, 94 per cent of rivers in England and Wales have a fair to good biological status.

"Part of the improvement has been down to improved farming practices and we expect that improvement to continue.

"We recognise that agriculture does contribute to the problem of water pollution but the industry is working towards solutions.

"It is very much in the interests of farmers to use fertilisers and chemicals sparingly and only in quantities that can be used by crops because farm chemicals are expensive. Nobody simply wants to throw them into our rivers and streams."