The dream has turned sour for dairy farmers across west and north Wiltshire now United Milk has called in the receivers.

Last May the doomed £45m factory was heralded as the future of dairy production with hundreds of farmers investing hard-earned cash into the co-operative.

But just 18 months into the daring project bankers have pulled the plug and farmers are left high and dry fearing for their livelihoods.

Farmers seem to be stumbling from one crisis to another after BSE, foot-and-mouth and now this.

Some dairy producers have not been paid since June for their milk and may have to write off the loss and say goodbye to their investment.

It all seemed too good to be true when the factory opened, promising to produce five per cent of the country's milk and take on the big boys in the milk industry.

And for many farmers and suppliers that is just what it has proved to be.

The greatest fear for many is that the factory could now be taken over by a foreign company and local farmers will be forgotten. How they will cope with that news is anybody's guess.

Also spare a thought for the factory workers who face redundancy after arriving at work on Tuesday to find their dream state-of-the-art plant had been taken over by men in suits.

Their only hope now is for the receivers to find a way out of this sticky situation.