FARMING on the edge of towns and cities can be like working in a war zone, with some farmers having to contend with prostitution, illegal raves and even attacks on livestock, an NFU study has found.

It is estimated that 32,000 farms in England and Wales operate close to large centres of population, but working on the urban fringe brings with it a unique set of challenges and opportunities.

A survey of 2,000 urban farmers found:

* almost 70pc suffer from "fly-tipping" - the dumping on farmland of industrial and domestic rubbish from garden refuse to abandoned cars;

* a third have problems with illegal encampments of travellers, including New Age travellers;

* 43pc are plagued by joy-riders.

Other problems reported included: prostitution, drug-taking, animal cruelty, theft, vandalism, arson, animal rustling and illegal raves.

Almost half of those surveyed thought their children would be more likely to be lured to the city lights than to continue the family farming business.

While 60pc had used their closeness to large populations to their advantage by diversifying into businesses like B&Bs and farmers' markets, only 18pc found their local authority supportive of them.

John Seymour, NFU environment chairman, said: "Many farmers on the edges of towns and cities sometimes feel it is like working in a war zone. They report a grim list of problems from vandalism to prostitution that you wouldn't expect to find in the countryside.

"Not only are these findings gravely disturbing, but they also add to the cost of farmers. For example, local authorities will charge farmers for disposing of illegally-dumped rubbish.

He added, however: "With easy access to large numbers of consumers, we also found that there are opportunities in urban areas that don't exist for farms in extremely isolated areas.

"Farming on the urban fringe must now be given a greater priority at all levels of Government to enable farmers to build on these opportunities and more attention must be paid to protecting rural areas from crime."

The NFU will lobby national and local Government for a number of measures including more visible policing, an extension of local authority powers for the removal of fly-tipped wastes from private land and a positive planning attitude towards farming and diversification in the Green Belt