WITH British Sugar's factory at Allscot closed following a fatality, Herefordshire farmers are having to send their beet to the company's Newark factory near Nottingham, some 150 miles away.

Fortunately, with the season drawing to a close, most farmers have dealt with the main quota harvest and have only over-quota remaining to sell as stock feed.

The Allscot factory was shut around midnight on Sunday after a boiler-house worker suffered serious burns to his chest and legs following a steam leak in a boiler. He was admitted to the Princess Royal Hospital and later transferred to the burns unit at Nottingham. He later died.

A second man was injured in the incident but allowed home after hospital treatment. A spokesman for British Sugar said health and safety officials had launched an investigation and the factory would remain closed while repairs were being carried out.

"We are working closely with the health and safety executive and the police to find out exactly what happened and to ensure that a tragedy such as this cannot happen again," added the spokesman.

Nigel Roper of Pencraig, Ross-on-Wye, one of the West Midlands representatives on the NFU sugar beet committee, said the factory would remain closed for the remainder of the season and that the Newark factory would be shut next Tuesday.

After expressing sympathy, Mr Roper said: "Farmers and particularly hauliers have experienced a lot of problems since the Allscot factory took over the work of the Kidderminster outlet.

"It has been a logistical nightmare for hauliers with so many loads being cut. The factory has been under strain because instead of running for four months, it has been operating for six at double capacity. With so many weaknesses showing up, we have been dogged with problems."

Mr Roper said that if there were problems next season there would be some serious questions asked.

The long run to Newark means that only one trip a day is possible from Herefordshire but British Sugar has said it will pay the extra costs involved.