Sales of turkey slumped 30 per cent after the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk, figures show. Consumers spent £2.4 million on fresh turkey the week after H5N1 was found on a Bernard Matthews' farm - down £1 million on the previous week.

Market analyst AC Nielsen said frozen turkey sales fell by 33 per cent while sales of fresh turkey cuts and joints were down 30.3 per cent.

Bernard Matthews earlier said its sales decreased by 40 per cent in the wake of the bird flu outbreak. Sales of all fresh chicken dropped from £34 million to £31.5 million the week after the outbreak, the figures show.

AC Nielsen's Eleni Nicholas said: "Despite experts assuring the public that there is no risk of humans contracting avian flu via the food chain we have still recorded a significant drop in turkey sales."

The data comes from checkout scanners at all the major food chains in Britain. These include Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose, M&S, Somerfield, the Co-op, Spar, Londis and other convenience stores.

Source: Channel 4 News