Pickers head for lettuce lane

Hundreds of pickers will descend on farms across east Norfolk to complete the final stage of the crucial vegetable harvest in the next fortnight.

An estimated 15m heads of Iceberg lettuce and acres of celery are destined for the country's multiple retailers by a leading fenland salad specialist, Shropshire's.

And Gareth McCambridge, general manager of the firm's Broadland operation, East Coast Growers, runs the massive operation, which involves cropping on more than 1,500 acres. From his base at Grove Farm Farm, Martham, he also has to work closely with about 20 farmers and landowners.

And it is probably the busiest time as the last of the season's babyleaf lettuce is picked and the celery harvest starts. "We'll have about 300 harvesting here next week. We've still got about 15 million heads (of iceberg) and of lettuce and celery in the ground as we speak. All the profit is still laying out there," he said.