Farmers, food, hospitality, animal welfare and conservation groups have called for urgent Government action in response to figures showing the UK has lost more than 90% of its abattoirs over the past few decades. Abattoir numbers have fallen to just 200, compared with 2,500 in the 1970s, leaving farmers without vital local slaughter facilities and putting British food production, rural businesses and animal welfare increasingly at risk. A 2025 survey of 850 farmers and land managers found that two-thirds had experienced difficulty accessing suitable abattoir services, while one-third had seen an abattoir they used close. If their current abattoir closed,…