SALAD growers in Worcestershire are reassuring people that their produce is safe to eat.

Producers say their businesses have been hit after Spanish cucumbers were wrongly believed to be the source of a deadly E.coli outbreak in Germany.

Yesterday – as tests poured doubt on the latest theory that the source could be German beansprouts – growers in Worcestershire were feeling the effects of the outbreak.

A spokesman at Offenham-based Valefresco said a glut of tomatoes from Holland had flooded on to the British market after Russia stopped shipments from Europe and sales plummeted in Germany.

He said: “They’re dumping them in the UK at stupid prices. They’re selling them for £1 or £2 a box when usually they’d be £4 to £5. The market in general is rubbish. A lot of people are not buying salads.”

David Shepherd, who is in charge of marketing at EVG in Blackminster, near Evesham, said: “I was at the Bath and West Show sampling tomatoes and people were asking if there was any E.coli in them.

“We need someone senior in the Government to say British produce is fine.

"The Dutch government has released a press release to that effect, but we’ve not had the same support here.”

James Revill, director of Red Star in Birlingham, near Pershore, said: “It would be nice to get a clear definition of what the source is but I don’t think they quite know.”

At least 20 people have died and more than 2,000 have fallen ill in Germany after being infected with the new strain of E.coli.