SUPERMARKET chain Waitrose is rebranding the lamb ready meals in its “British” range because some are actually made with meat from New Zealand.

The problem emerged last year when it was noticed that the lamb meals in the upmarket retailers range did not in fact use British meat.

Initially, stickers were put on the front of the packs making it clear where the lamb came from.

But now all the “British” lamb meals will be rebranded as “Classic”, though not meals made from pork, beef and chicken. All the meat included in those products comes only from the UK.

A Waitrose spokeswoman said: “To ensure the provenance of the lamb in the meals is clearer (it has always been on back of pack) we have [already] stickered all packs on the front.

“We are about to re-launch the range with the branding “Classic”, removing the large “British” reference from the front of pack. This was only supposed to denote the origin of the recipe but we understand the confusion.”

The move waas welcomed by farmers leaders. NFU president Meurig Raymon said: “We made our concerns clear to Waitrose from the beginning on this product.

“The inclusion of the word “British” in the brand name despite the meat being sourced from New Zealand is misleading for shoppers.

“It’s frustrating for British farmers, especially for those who produce lamb that Waitrose could have sourced.”