Plans for a controversial ‘battery cow’ farm having capacity to hold four thousand cattle have been scrapped.

The complex, which could have been the largest dairy farm of Britain, had been criticized by countryside, animal welfare and consumer groups.

The Nocton Dairy which is located at Nocton Heath in Lincolnshire would have produced two hundred and fifteen thousand pints of milk a day from super-size Holstein cows, which are bred to produce more milk than any calf, could drink.

The proposed mega farm in Lincolnshire termed Battery would have given anew dimension to factory farming in this country, producing a staggering two hundred and fifteen thousand pints of milk per day

Cows on the thirty four million pounds worth farm would have spent most of their lives inside a collection of vast barns with floors which are sand-covered and of concrete where they would have been given feed which would be processed and milked in shifts around the clock.

Supporters were of the opinion that the massive scale of production made economic sense at a time when supermarkets are selling milk for a price which is less than the cost of bottled water.

The original plan was to hold around eight thousand cows, but this was brought down to three thousand seven hundred and seventy. A planning application for this scheme was taken back by farmers David Barnes and Peter Willes, yesterday, after objections were raised by the Government’s Environment Agency.

The farm would have been found surrounded by lagoons where several gallons of cattle slurry would have been present. The agency was afraid that the waste could pollute ground water. In speculation, this could have put drinking water at risk.