In a move making it half the cost of bottled water, supermarkets have slashed milk prices making farmers react with fury.

Eight pints of milk now costs £2 at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. That’s the equivalent to 25p a pint or 44p a litre.

Meanwhile, you can pick up bottled water brands such as Highland Spring for as little as 50p a pint or 88p a litre.

Farmers claim the market is so competitive that many dairy farms are paid less per pint than it costs to actually produce the milk.

James Withers, of NFU Scotland, said:

‘The history of price wars show that it is not supermarket profits that suffer the consequences, but those of their suppliers. The average milk price for a dairy farmer is three pence below the cost of production. And whilst they lose money on every pint produced, retailers are making millions.’

Alastair Driver, of the Farmers Guardian, said: ‘Supermarkets need to question whether selling eight pints of milk for £2 as a loss leader is either necessary or in anyone’s long-term interests, including their own.’