BRITISH farmers protested outside Parliament today, calling on MPs to support tougher regulations to protect them from unfair treatment by the big six supermarkets.

More than 110,000 people signed a petition pressing the government to overhaul the grocery supply code of practice, and dozens of scarecrows popped up as MPs debated reforms to the supply chain.

Veg-box firm Riverford Organic, which started the petition, said farmers are likely to go out of business in the next 12 months, with many blaming supermarkets’ buying practices as a threat to their livelihoods.