GREEK farmers dumped chestnuts and apples on the pavement outside an agricultural fair on Saturday, promising to escalate protests following a meeting tomorrow.

The farmers were from the Thessaly region, in central Greece, who came to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on buses to join their colleagues from the north who had come with their tractors on Friday.

In recent months, similar protests have swept Europe as farmers on the continent take their grievances over inflation, foreign competition and the costs of combating climate change to the streets.