A SUCCESSFUL West Dorset cidermaker is asking for support for the campaign to resist EU rules imposing duty on small-scale producers.

Award-winning cider maker Nick Poole, from West Milton, says imposing duty on production of more than 7000 litres will spell the death knell for the traditional craftsmen and women in the area.

He’d like people to sign a petition on the BritainforBusiness.org website.

Mr Poole, who won the industry’s innovation award for the success of the Powerstock Cider Festival in reviving interest in the drink, said: “It is going to affect Dorset in a big way.

“It will be the death knell.”

He said small producers would have to more than double production to make a living if they paid duty.

He said: “A lot of them will give up. It will have a long term knock on for future generations. They will have to be very brave to make that investment to go straight from nothing to 30,000 litres without any experience or knowledge of the commercial side of the business.”

Mr Poole produces 20,000 litres and does pay duty but says he was able to do so in stages until he was sure his business was viable.

Last week for the first time ever the South West of England Cidermakers' Association met in Bridport at The Stable to discuss the situation.

Mr Poole added: “They met here in recognition of the fact that Dorset has become, over the last ten years, a recognised risen-again cider county which has largely sprung from nothing to about 25 or more producers, the majority of whom won’t be duty registered.”

He said the situation was very confused and no one really knew why the issue had been brought before the European courts now when this country had not been paying duty since the rules were re-negotiated in 1992.

Mr Poole added: “There are 480 registered cider makers in the country and 80 per cent don’t pay duty but that top 20 per cent pay hundreds of millions, so the amount they would raise out of that 80 per cent would be very insignificant.

“But the knock on effect for the heritage side would be a great loss to the country. It would be catastrophic.”

Tim Gibbs restaurant manager of The Stable, which sells a wide array of craft local ciders, said: “We support the local cider people and we don’t want it to be detrimental to anyone but we understand why it has got to happen. It is unfair to say some companies have got to pay it and others don’t

“But I don’t want it to put the little ones out of business. We hope they will find a solution that will suit everyone.

“We do like to use the smaller producers ones and ultimately if it puts the smaller ones out of business or it means they stop producing it is going to be bad for us.

“We had a meeting here last week and the bigger companies were saying why shouldn’t they have to pay we have to. It will hit the small ones quite hard - they are going to have to charge £7 or £8 a box more which has a knock on effect for us.”