A TURKEY farmer has received an early Christmas present.

John Howe, who runs Lotlands Farm near Tenterden, has been given a Government grant to improve his cold storage.

The free range turkey farmer received £28,000 from the Department of Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) Rural Enterprise Scheme to build a new cold room and provide scope for the business to expand and employ Mr Howe's son when he graduates from university.

Mr Howe said: "This was a major capital cost I couldn't justify paying for myself, even though the lynch pin of the infrastructure needed to enable expansion.

"I have been thinking about it for three years and now the Defra grant has made it happen."

The 68.5 acre farm has been in Mr Howe's family for 50 years. Jonathon King, an advisor for Defra's development service in the South East said: "Defra is pleased to have funded the project because it is a good example of a farm diversification project which will sustain a working family farm through adding value to their produce."