A survey of 700 rural family businesses was carried out by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) to gauge the impact of controversial changes to farm inheritance tax relief.

It says nearly 90pc of farming families have paused investment, with some actively reducing the value of their assets in order avoid saddling their children with tax liabilities they cannot afford to pay.

The government's plans to scrap agricultural property relief (APR) for farms valued over £1m were watered down at the end of last year when, after months of industry campaigning, the threshold was raised to £2.5m to limit the impact........

© Eastern Daily Press