Higher food prices are here to stay for a while to come, the president of the National Farmers' Union has warned ahead of a meeting in Downing Street.

Minette Batters will hold talks with the Prime Minister alongside supermarkets, food companies and farmers as food price inflation rises at its fastest pace in 45 years.

She warned that "with the cost of living crisis, nobody wants to [talk] about people being forced into paying more," with consumers in Britain paying less for groceries than Europeans, according to ministers.

She told the Times: "I don't see the situation changing any time soon. While the war in Ukraine continues, pressure on gas prices is going to remain higher."

Farmers are impacted heavily by the rising price of gas, which is used in the production of fertiliser and the primary fuel for electricity generation in Britain.

The cost of food had surged 19.2pc in the year to March despite international food prices beginning to fall.

It comes after supermarket chiefs blamed meddling ministers for contributing to a surge in food prices after they imposed "eye-watering" costs on the industry.

Senior directors from Britain's biggest grocers told John Glen, chief secretary to the Treasury, that onerous regulation covering everything from recycling to border checks was making the weekly shop more expensive.

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