McDonald's is following the lead set by Waitrose, which last week announced its own increases in payments to farmers for beef and lamb in a move which the National Farmers' Union described as "groundbreaking".

McDonald's will pay five per cent more for beef and pork, a move that the company says will benefit 6,300 farmers who supply meat for its restaurants in this country.

In addition, the group is to increase the amount of beef it buys from farmers in the UK and Ireland by around 30 per cent, or another 100 tonnes a week.

All the pork used is already sourced from farms in England and Wales.

As a further measure, McDonald's has relaxed its policy on meat buying until trading conditions improve for farmers.

It had a policy of buying meat from animals which had been moved around a maximum of three times, but has increased that to four in a move which means it will now buy produce which would have otherwise had to go for export.