Abattoir boss defends meat supply after TT

The Isle of Man's meat plant has defended its supply of products following the TT period after criticism from a local butcher.

Lee Mayers, who runs a shop Kirk Michael, criticised the government-owned company after he said his order for the week was only partially fulfilled on Monday.

The butcher said he was now considering increasing his us of imported meat after issues securing the products from the plant .

However, managing director Rebecca Miah said the firm had followed the same procedures as previous years and had warned customers some items would not be available for a time.

In a post of Facebook, said Mr Mayers had received a call from the meat plant explaining he would not be getting everything he was expecting from an order he placed the previous week.

He said issues with supply had occurred on a "regular basis" and as his business "can’t keep turning customers away" he was seeking to get meat from the UK.

Mr Mayers also said he knew of cows being exported for slaughter due to waiting times at the Tromode-based plant, adding: "Farmers can’t get it into the plant and we can’t get any out."

Ms Miah said while she could understand Mr Mayers' issues with the way the plant was run previously, including when supplies stopped due to a machine breakdown, his comments were "really disappointing" given the measures put in place to maintain supply during TT.

She said the company had spoken to "all butchers" in early May to explain a pause in the throughput of animals at the plant during the races due to road access issues, would which mean a reduction in products available until 12 June.

The plant "operated all the way through practice week and TT to ensure that beef and box stock was highly available", she added.

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