Three farmers whose business is one of Yorkshire’s largest suppliers of geese have been charged with a number of offences relating to avian flu control.

John Malcolm Walter Mathison, 83, his brother Stuart William, 70, and Stuart's son Daniel Stuart, 49, will appear at Beverley Magistrates Court in relation to activities at their poultry farm, Yorkshire Ducks and Geese in Leven, near Hornsea, in the spring of 2023.

They are accused of multiple offences, including failing to declare mortality rates during a national avian flu outbreak and not keeping their free-range birds indoors as required by disease control regulations.

The Mathisons, who raise thousands of ducks and geese and supply restaurants, are alleged to have contravened the Animal Health Act by not immediately informing the government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency of increased bird deaths. The same Act required poultry to be housed in areas where they could not mix with wild birds once the Aviation Influenza Prevention Zone restrictions were imposed from November 2022.

Stuart Mathison has been charged alongside his brother Malcolm and son Daniel

Another charge the men face is of failing to keep correct records of duck deaths and of failing to remove poultry meat from the premises once a ‘suspicion of disease’ notice had been served by a vet. They are also alleged to have falsely told an inspector that there was no meat present and that a cold store was empty when it contained a ‘large quantity’ of meat.

An eighth charge is that they contravened the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations by operating a slaughterhouse at Southfield Farm without approval.

The Mathisons have been farming in Leven since the 1960s and Stuart is a parish councillor for Leven.

Leading Yorkshire duck and geese farmers charged with failing to declare high mortality during avian flu outbreak and not keeping birds indoors