CATHEDRAL City cheese maker Dairy Crest, which has two Southampton depots among eight in Hampshire, posted annual profits up 5 per cent to £83.5m.

The group, which also makes Clover spread and Country Life butter, said rising commodity costs and a poor spring would put pressure on prices over the coming months.

There have been fears raised recently that a disappointing year for British milk yields and soaring global demand for milk powder and butter could lead to higher cheese prices.

Mark Allen, chief executive of Dairy Crest, said it was too early to talk of prices going up for shoppers. He added: “If milk prices started to move up, we would look to recover those.”

Dairy Crest, which has 1,350 dairy farmer suppliers has launched a major marketing push for Country Life featuring former Sex Pistol John Lydon, pictured, which it said had helped to make it the UK’s fastest growing butter brand.