Pupils’ milk shortage blamed on fair weather cows (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Pupils’ milk shortage blamed on fair weather cows

8:00am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News

THIRSTY schoolchildren in Bury were left without their daily milk — because cows could not go outside in the rain.

That was one of the excuses given to parents after deliveries failed to show up three times in the space of a week.

Around 4,200 parents stump up about 25p per day for their child to have a carton of milk at 50 of the borough’s primary schools.

Acting on information given by the milk suppliers, letters were sent out from schools to parents to explain the non-delivery.

One sent to out from Higher Lane Primary School in Egerton Road, Whitefield, said: “First, it is due to machinery failure at the dairy which provides our milk.

“Second, there is a 20-per-cent shortage of milk nationally due to the wet weather and therefore leading to cows being unable to go outside.

“Third, due to the shortage, milk tankers have been arriving into the night rather than at 5am the previous morning, which has caused the provider to be a full day’s worth of milk short.”

A Bury Council spokesman said deliveries were affected on September 6, 7 and 13. Supplies were said to have returned to normal on Friday.

He added: “In addition to raising our concerns directly with the supplier, we have also raised the issue with Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, which buys services on behalf of local councils, and they are taking action with the contractor.

“The contractor has put in place a number of steps to avoid future issues including sourcing additional supplies of milk and increasing production to seven-day working. As a result of the supply issues, we are also considering alternative options for supply of school milk.”