A Mearns fruit farm was forced to leave 100 tonnes of perfectly good crop to rot because of a labour shortage.
Castleton, outside Laurencekirk, has seen a drop of approximately 20% of summer workers since the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme ended, with the cumulative cost estimated to be around £350,000 for the business.
Ross and Murray Mitchell have run the farm for more than 20 years and it is now one of the biggest commercial growers in Scotland.
Ross Mitchell said: “Without a strong seasonal workforce we wouldn’t be in business.”