THE owner of a soft fruit business has highlighted the importance of the seasonal workforce which comes to the county every summer.

Anthony Snell, from Windmill Hill in Harewood End, employs 300 staff at peak time during the fruit picking season and around 250 of these come from abroad.

The business grows around 1,000 tonnes of strawberries, 300 to 400 tonnes of raspberries and 300 to 400 tonnes of blackcurrants.

He said the workforce who come from abroad to pick the crops are hugely important to the company.

Mr Snell said: "They are a wonderful asset to us which we hope we can continue post-Brexit.

"We really look after our staff. It is getting harder to get good people. But at the moment we are not having any major issues."

During the winter, the workforce goes down to around 30 to 40.

Mr Snell said: "The seasonal workforce we employ- they are not migrants. We always say having workers from abroad is not an immigration issue. It is a huge economic benefit for the county and the UK."

Food and farming makes a £108bn contribution to the UK economy and creates 3.9 million jobs. Of these, 800,000 are seasonal workers.

He said he is concerned about what effect Brexit will have on this.

Mr Snell said: "They come here, they are usually young and they don't burden our local hospitals because they are young and fit. They are paying taxes and national insurance.

"They are putting money into the economy. They are also spending. Our staff, we take them shopping. They spend a lot of money in Hereford.

"By autumn a lot of our workforce have earned plenty of money and they want to go home."

Mr Snell said not one British job is taken. He said they employ Herefordshire people where they can but that many residents do not want to pick fruit or are not readily available.

He said: "Without our seasonal workforce we would have no business. Everybody would suffer. There would be more exports, high prices."

The berry industry has grown by 14.6 percent since last year.

Mr Snell added: "It is nice to be in Herefordshire to be producing a crop that is healthy to eat and it is good for the economy and for everybody."