Farmers have put the pressure on the NFU Council to demand a resignation from Defra Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett , if the Single Farm Payment process is not completed by Friday, June 30.

NFU bosses issued Beckett with a warning this week after a meeting in which council delegates lined up to present accounts of the anxiety caused by Defra’s failure to resolve confusion surrounding the method of payment.

The council was told of overdrafts having to be extended, bills unpaid, a cash-flow crisis, and rural helplines being jammed by calls from desperate farmers.

At a rally in Melton Mowbray this week more than 150 farmers expressed their anger at Defra's broken promises.

The NFU-organised rally was addressed by Conservative agriculture MP James Paice and Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan, who spoke with farmers about the pressures facing the industry.

Leicestershire farmer, Rad Thomas, said: “We need to see a sea-change in Defra attitudes to the payments, otherwise we'll be back here in the same situation in 12 months' time. We need farmers to make their feelings known to their MPs - don't just sit back and let it happen; help yourself, your NFU and your industry to get some action from Defra and the Rural Payments Agency.”

Meanwhile, Mark Addison, acting chief executive of the RPA told the Council despite efforts to accelerate the process he could not confirm when farmers would receive payments.

He said steps to improve the process had been made and a system allowing for part payments was being developed.

Speaking after the Council meeting, NFU president Peter Kendall said: “Today's debate was a reflection of the anger and frustration - verging in some cases on desperation - that farmers across the country have been expressing at the complete fiasco, from conception to delivery, that the single payment scheme in England has become.

“Council felt that it was Margaret Beckett's decision to opt for the hugely complex model of single payment that applies in England and it was Mrs Beckett that accepted the assurances of her officials at the RPA that they would be made on time. So it is she who has the responsibility for sorting out this appalling mess.”