Commenting on the changes to agricultural property relief announced in the recent Budget, CEO of WineGB, Nicola Bates, said: “This is a real body blow for our sector which is dominated by family owned and run businesses that have taken a risk and diversified beyond conventional farming.

“Land under vine is valued significantly higher than land used by other forms of agriculture. This combined with the value of additional buildings and specialist equipment needed for vineyards and wineries to function means that wine businesses, even of modest size, can quickly pass the threshold that the Government has imposed.

“We urge the Government to rethink this punitive tax that will split up family farms across the UK.”