AN MP has pledged to farmers that she will do all she can to break supermarkets' monopoly on food prices.

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman spent yesterday touring farms in Teesdale and speaking to farmers about their concerns and issues facing the countryside.

Among the problems Mrs Goodman heard about were falling beef prices and competition from cheaper but poorer quality overseas meat.

Farmers also spoke about the possibility of getting export bans on beef lifted to allow more trade with EU countries.

Mrs Goodman said she would continue promoting the importance of quality food and was sponsoring the Children's Food Bill, which was about improving school meals and banning adverts for unhealthy snacks on children's television.

One of her major concerns is the effect supermarkets are having on the farming industry. She has written to Department of Trade ministers about the problem, but was not satisfied with the response.

Mrs Goodman said: "I am going to continue to press for a change in the behaviour of supermarkets. It is quite clear that supermarkets are forcing down farmers' margins to the point where it is uneconomical.

"It seems to me that supermarkets are using their monopoly buying power and the money is going disproportionately to the retailer and insufficient to the producer."

Mrs Goodman said she has also been speaking to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs about reducing bureaucracy, getting farm payments paid on time and finding a replacement for the Hill Farmers' Allowance.

Phil Barber, secretary for Teesdale NFU, said he was pleased Mrs Goodman listened to the farmers' concerns.

He said: "We're hoping that she will be able to take up the problems that she has been hearing about today with the Government, such as the bureaucracy and the state of farming in general."