The owner of a farm which supplies the iconic Wimbledon strawberries has spoken about the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

With the All-England Championships cancelled and lockdown putting pressure on the fruit-picking workforce, the ongoing pandemic is proving a challenge for Hugh Lowe Farms in Mereworth between Sevenoaks and Maidstone.

Last year the farm supplied more than 33 tons of the succulent summer fruit to the famous tennis tournament, but this year there will be no crowds descending on SW19 for what is widely considered one of the highlights of the sporting and social calendar.

Owner and director Marion Regan spoke to the Oxford Farming Conference Podcast about how these unprecedented times are affecting the business.

"The Wimbledon fortnight is traditionally the peak of the English strawberry season," she said, "but if you remember we’re actually picking fruit from April all the way through to November using different systems.

"But during those two weeks it's really important for us and we are the only strawberry supplier to Wimbledon, so yes, it's a lot. They do manage to eat a lot.

"I had been talking to them and there’s not many adjustments we can make, we’re sort of pretty committed to that crop now. It’s planted and it’s there. But there’s some tweaks that we can make to timing, because the challenge is always to get that particular crop that we’ve targeted to peak during those two weeks.

"I'm hoping everyone will think 'gosh it's high summer, let's eat plenty of strawberries' and we will be able to find other outlets for it."

Miss Regan added that she had offered the surplus strawberries to an East London food bank, emphasising that a home will be found for the extra produce.

Soft fruit farms across Kent have been impacted by the lockdown and restrictions on the movement of workers within Europe, which has led to a drive to recruit more home-grown workers for the summer's harvest.

Ms Regan told the podcast that bringing in their usual seasonal workforce from Europe was proving to be a challenge not just for Hugh Lowe Farms but for the entire agricultural sector.

She said: "We've probably got about a quarter of the people we need here already. And then we've got to work out what to do with the rest of our need.

"And I have to say, actually, it’s quite heartening really because the message seems to be getting out and - some of the stories are quite sad - but obviously people are struggling and worried by the current situation. Some people want to come and help pick because they would like to do that."

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