Poultry farmers in Suffolk and Norfolk are warning they could be wiped out as officials try to bring a massive outbreak of bird flu under control.

They fear the winter season could see another peak in cases - and are calling on the government to do more to help them.

They want it to relax certain disease eradication rules which they believe serve no purpose but do affect the viability of their businesses. They also want better financial help.

The farmers' call for action was made at a meeting of the Norfolk and Suffolk Poultry Group chaired by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership chief executive Chris Starkie.

Mr Starkie expressed dismay that there had not yet been a response to a letter the group sent to environment secretary and Suffolk Coastal MP Thérèse Coffey calling for more support.

Farmers want faster - and retrospective - compensation payments for the culling of flocks of birds, a review of shutdown periods for farms, and an extension of a derogation allowing for turkeys, ducks and geese to be defrosted to 2023 and 2024.

Poultry auctioneer Fabian Eagle told the meeting: "They are trying to eradicate the disease and they are actually eradicating the poultry industry."

Chris Morley, managing director of Gressingham Foods in Woodbridge, pointed out there had been 160 cases around the country since September 1 – compared to 25 in the same period last year.

Half of these had been recorded in East Anglia., he said. This had slowed from 88 cases in October in 48 cases in November, but Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) officials were predicting a possible second peak in December.

He called for the post-cull shutdown period to be revisited, and said there was no science behind the ruling that certain farms need to be shut for 12 months if they didn’t undertake a secondary C&D (cleansing and disinfection).

Meanwhile France was seeing chicken farms restocked in four weeks after secondary C&D or seven weeks after secondary C&D for ducks, he said.

Máire Burnett, technical director at the British Poultry Council, said although the frequency of cases had fallen a little in recent weeks, risk from disease remained as the migratory season was not over.

"Biosecurity is still the key message," she said.

The Government has temporarily relaxed labelling rules to enable farmers to slaughter turkeys, ducks and geese early and freeze them so that they could defrost them for sale before Christmas. However, some smaller producers don't have the freezer capacity for this.

While turkeys dominated the headlines, ducks, geese, broilers, laying hens and other birds were also affected by the crisis, she added.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Poultry Group was launched in autumn 2020 as part of the region’s response to the Covid pandemic after Covid infections caused factory closures and shutdowns along with staff shortages.

Poultry is a key farming sector in the region and is seen as having significant potential for future growth.

The LEP  said it would send a further letter to Ms Coffey on behalf of the group underlining the need for further government intervention.