CHEESES from Hampshire should be exported to the rest of the world, the Government has urged.

Agriculture and food minister Jim Paice said the dairy industry needed to be helped to invest in processing milk so the UK could become a net exporter of all dairy products.

Currently the UK imports around £2.3 billion worth of dairy products including milk, cream and yoghurt, and only exports goods worth £900m.

But with more than 700 distinct British cheeses – compared with 400 traditional French cheeses – and with 15 dairy products made in particular areas using a traditional method protected from cheap imitations under the EU Protected Food Names status, ministers are keen to boost the export of UK produce.

Hampshire is home to a burgeoning cheese industry, including former champion cheese of Britain winner Tunworth, pictured, and a host of others such as Loosehanger cheese and Lyburn regularly scooping top honours at events.

Mr Paice said: “We produce milk at highly competitive prices, but the gap between liquid milk and milk for processing is too wide.

“Our industry is already making some impressive investments to diversify into making higher quality dairy products, which will help to address this.

“We now need to help the dairy industry invest in processing, so that we can become a net exporter of all dairy products and send Britain’s iconic cheeses and other dairy products to the world.

“At the moment the UK imports a significant quantity of high-quality cheeses and other dairy products which our home industry could just as effectively produce here.”