Pluckiest poultry pundit goes home to roost

One of the best-known and loved farming 'faces' in the South West is to call it a day in April.

The tenaciously terrier-like Paul Cooper, who has won countless disputes, principally on behalf of poultry farmers, and battles with bureaucracy, has decided to take early retirement after 30 years with the region's NFU.

He started as assistant poultry adviser in 1974, became regional poultry secretary and subsequently South West poultry adviser. More recently, he had also taken on the role of policy adviser in Cornwall and, subsequently, food and farming adviser with special responsibility for livestock.

South West regional NFU director, Anthony Gibson, said of Paul, who comes from Inwardleigh near Okehampton:

"He has literally saved or won millions of pounds for our members and has become a legend in his own lifetime for his indefatigable commitment to the cause.

"We will miss his encyclopaedic knowledge of poultry – shared with the public at countless shows – and his ever chirpy presence in the office. We will be appointing a successor as soon as possible, but we can't pretend that anyone could quite fill his shoes. When God made Paul Cooper, he threw away the mould!"