Putting a beef joint on the table for Christmas could be an expensive job this year. And thousands of families may have no option but to buy inferior, imported beef as a result of a surge in the UK’s food exports.

The warning has come from livestock farmer and former NFU livestock chairman Richard Haddock, who says the slump in the value of sterling after the Brexit vote spells good news for farmers, less good for British consumers.

He says exports of prime British beef are taking off and are certain to impact on the Christmas trade.

And as a result supermarkets will almost certainly have to look to Eastern Europe to fill the empty shelves as one of the annual peaks in meat-buying approaches.

Mr Haddock, who farms near Kingswear, says the UK’s beef market is already short because so many farmers have been unable to make a profit and have quit livestock production in the last few years.

“For the ones who are left there are clearly good times ahead because there is a growing demand for quality beef and quality lamb on the continent,” he said.

“But the other side of the coin is that we are unlikely to be able to fulfil the Christmas demand for beef.”

Cheap imports from Eastern Europe have been blamed for dragging UK beef prices down in the last three to four years.

But, said Mr Haddock, many families would have little option but to buy imported beef this Christmas.

“I already have my doubts about a lot of the beef on sale in supermarkets, particularly in the major discounters, because there seems to be far more so-called British beef around than the figures suggest to me we are producing,” he said.

“I would just urge anyone who wants to be sure they are putting British beef on their table at Christmas to ask for the exact provenance of the meat before they buy it. They have a right to know,” he said.