MANY of the region's upland farmers face ruin because of long delays in handing out the new Single Farm Payment.

Many have had no payment under the support schemes since October 2004, and hopes of payment by the end of this month have long faded.

Some of the poorest tenant farmers are now facing a double financial blow with rents due at this time of year, and there is concern that some will not be able to meet their obligations.

The Tory MP for the Vale of York, Anne McIntosh, is pressing the Secretary of State of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, and her under-secretary, Jim Knight, on the state that farmers in the region and across Britain are in.

She said the blame lay with the incompetence of the Rural Payments Agency. She said: "Jim Knight told me in the Chamber of the House of Commons that the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would pay the bulk of payments by the end of March and that in England they would be paying in full.

"To date, this has not happened and I must express my disappointment with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in particular.

"I hope the replacement of their chief executive, Johnston McNeill, will expedite matters, although restructuring of the department should not be used as an excuse for further delay."

Regional chairman of the National Farmers' Union, Richard Betton, said the RPA had made a catalogue of mistakes. He said: "Somebody knew back in September they were not going to be able to deliver this, and they have not been honest with the farming industry. They could have paid something on account which would have helped people a bit. As it is, farmers are being hit hard, and jobs are being put at risk.

"I do not think Margaret Beckett or any of her senior civil servants had any idea of the complexity of the scheme and the difficulties of administering it."