Researchers at Who Owns Norfolk, a project which has scoured public records to identify who owns land in the county, have found farmland is being "hoovered up" by investors from abroad.

Some of Norfolk's biggest landowners include an Italian count, Malaysian billionaires, Dubai royalty and the heir to a German cigarette fortune.

Tens of thousands of acres of land are now owned by a cluster of individuals, who snap up any parcels of green space around their grand estates.

While some have made a home in Norfolk, others have bought land and estates as cash-generating assets - and some are owned via offshore companies registered in the Cayman Islands and Jersey.

Local, small-scale farmers say they are struggling to compete with these wealthy investors, who are inflating prices and pushing them out the market.

A farmer harvesting a field in Norfolk (Image: Mike Page)

This comes amid fears that changes to inheritance tax rules will force more family farms to sell up, putting even more Norfolk land in the hands of moneyed investors.

Norfolk MP Terry Jermy believes the findings show that urgent changes are needed to stop this "tax loophole" being exploited by the mega-rich.

These concerns sparked a campaign by this newspaper, calling on the government to offer farmers in the county a fairer deal.

WHO OWNS NORFOLK?

According to the research, the biggest landowner in Norfolk is the Crown Estate (33,700 acres) followed by the Forestry Commission (29,500).

Organisations the Ministry of Defence (24,200 acres), Norfolk County Council (16,600 acres), the National Trust (15,900 acres) and Norfolk Wildlife Trust (8,500 acres) also feature in the top 10.

Much of Norfolk is also owned by aristocracy, some of whom have possessed the same land for centuries.

This includes the Coke family, who own the 25,000-acre Holkham estate, the Birkbecks of West Acre (8,850 acres) and the Le Strange family in Hunstanton (6,200).

However, of the top 20 biggest landowners, five are enormously wealthy individuals from overseas.

Count Luca........

© Norwich Evening News