FARMERS hit by this winter’s floods are to get help from the Government.

The Rural Payments Agency has announced lifting of restrictions of crop diversification rules (the three cope rules) and an extra £6 million fund to help those whose fields were ruined by the repeated floods.

Tenant Farmers Association national chairman Mark Coulman said: “The change in the ‘3-crop rule’ is great news. The TFA has called multiple times for this rule to be urgently relaxed, as many thousands of farmers across the country have been affected by the recent storms and unable to get onto their land to plant crops.

“It really shows that the Government is listening to and taking account of people who have been hit so badly by the atrocious weather”

“We are very glad to see that common sense has prevailed.

“We understand that many of our members are affected so we hope now this will provide relief to those farmers,”