The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has asked farmers not to contact them for information about their claims, as the organisation works to complete outstanding subsidy payments.

The request in a letter has angered farmers who see it as further evidence of poor management.

Some farmers are still waiting for money as part of subsidies for 2005 and, while the Government has begun to make payments for 2006, payouts are still lagging behind Europe.

Bill Ward, from Dunsley, Whitby, who is waiting to receive money, said: "It is so frustrating. I don't rely on this for my income, it would be doubly frustrating if I did." He said the letter was bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake and farmers were being treated like fools.

"They don't know what they are doing and one department clearly does not know what the other department is doing – it is a disgrace," he said.

"It is money that a lot of farmers rely on – every other country in the European Union has received their money – many of them got it before Christmas and nobody at the agency will give you a straight answer."

It follows a series of mistakes by the Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) which have left some farmers facing financial ruin.

The Yorkshire Post revealed in January there was a backlog of 19,000 more claims under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme than officials had previously admitted.

The Government is now facing EU fines of £300m which will have to be met by the taxpayer. The Yorkshire Post has been piling pressure on the Government to sort out the rural farm payments mess through our Fair Deal for Farmers campaign.

A spokesman from the RPA said responding to telephone calls about partial payments only took staff focus and attention away from processing claims.

A spokesman for the NFU added: "While the tone of this particular para-
graph may be unfortunate, we are confident that the RPA is working hard to get farmers' payments out as quickly and efficiently as possible in the run-up to the March 7 deadline."