GROWING UP

Inside the hi-tech multimillion-pound vertical farm which could be the future of British food production

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

FANCY fresh, British-grown strawberries at Christmas? Or perfect pineapples produced on your doorstep? They may be reality in just a few years thanks to new technology being used in hi-tech indoor farms.

In so-called "vertical farms", produce is grown in vast, windowless laboratory-like warehouses, without a tractor or a speck of mud in sight.

Instead, nutrientrich water and special lighting to recreate perfect sunshine mean turbo-charged growing times, in any weather, and without the use of pesticides.

The outcome could be lower prices, longer shelf life for fresh fruit and veg, and less reliance on food imports.

The UK imports around half the food we eat, often by air freight. Climate change is causing increasingly extreme weather and having a huge impact on farmers and where our food comes from.

A cold snap in Spain last February led to shortages of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce here, with some supermarkets even resorting to rationing.

Vertical farming - produce grown inside, in layers - is not new. But firms are taking it to another level with ever bigger factories.